revivalproject | Dominion

Entry tags:

Dominion

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

"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.

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!"

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."

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.

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!"

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.

"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.

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.

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.

Tony wasn't any better prepared for the demand, dropping his own hand slowly with some satisfaction at the retreat of the encroaching plants from the hall and squinting up to follow the beam of Jon's light when he flinched at the sudden commitment. He readily met Cal's eye, though, and at the same time agreed, "On it, boss." He backed out of the hall to follow them back into the teaming garden, gauntlet up to scan the flood of the repulsor across the vines twisting their way toward them and keep them shut out beyond the door that Tony kicked closed in their...faces? It probably wouldn't hold for long, and those plants in the hall were a drop in the verdant pond, but it was one less front to worry about for the moment. Tony took his chance to swing his light up where Jon had been pointing before to get a proper look at that big flower.

The twining of the vines was like snakes or worms, but the way the white bulb itself moved, the tips of its petals pressed together tightly and drawing in like it recoiled, shuddering movements under the thin surface like ticks working their way under the skin, and something thick and yellow dripping from between the seams where the mass overlapped itself like drool, the whole effect made Tony's stomach turn. It clearly did not like the lights flashing over it and tightened further to retreat from them, but it didn't have anywhere to go. Its only recourse was to answer in kind, blooming open in a thousand thin layers peeling back to shower down a potent mass of that shimmering pollen. Ropes of the viscous fluid that it drooled dripped down from the ceiling, coating several of the writhing vines around them and hissing softly as heavy drops splattered across the soil.

The tone may not have been necessary to be used on his friends, but it's yet the tone Jon deems appropriate as he sets his feet between writhing vines that scuttle away from his light for at least a few moments. Though he has no time to watch them. His eyes are on the big flower even as it rains its pollen down on them.

"Ceaseless Watcher," Jon starts, maintaining the tone he has used before. The air around the Archivist begins to crackle as he speaks. Just a faint, static-y noise at first. "See this thing. Left behind and forgotten it lurks in the shadows, afraid to be seen." It is then that the ceiling shifts to make room for the sky above. But it isn't the night sky that opens up to them, but a clear, bright blue summer sky.

The plant emits a noise that comes close to a high-pitched growl, paired with the increasingly agitated movements of numerous vines now whipping about. Though Jon trusts that his friends can keep them at bay for just a moment longer.

"It is yours!"

And the sun that has come climbing up that blue sky much faster than would be natural turns towards the flower and opens its eye. The rest is an inhuman shriek and a temporarily distorted fold in reality before silence and darkness return.

Edited 2021-07-13 11:16 (UTC)

Trusting Tony to cover one side, Cal took the other, taking hold of his lightsaber in both hands, separating it into two with a twist. Blue and yellow blades sliced through the wildly flailing vines, but as he noticed the sudden increase of blooms, even the padawan stole a glance up towards where Tony had shone his light.

He thrust a hand outward, lightsaber still clutched in it, but he used the Force to push back the dripping gobs that threatened to fall on them. After hearing that hissing sound, he wasn't sure any of them wanted to find out what that stuff did, not even sure how much of it was actually real but at this point he wasn't taking chances.

Jon's words seemed to buzz in the air, something else prodding Cal's Force sense he felt the effect of them. It wasn't unlike Merrin's incantations, but there was power behind those words, and he could sense the growing fear- from the plant? The effect was almost suffocating combined with the already thick air around them, but the plant's reaction spurred him to resume his efforts, trimming down vines as they flew towards them.

He wasn't sure what to make of the impossible sun, of an inviting day-lit sky, but in a brief mental flash he was certain that he'd caught a glimpse of a massive eye.

The space fell shockingly still. In the beat of strange silence as the sky went dark and the buzzing crawling up the back of Tony's neck faded, Tony had the chance to gasp an unsteady breath before he could hear the dead-heavy pattering of the amputated vines slapping to the ground as they collapsed from their animated suspension all around them. He went backing blindly closer to Cal and Jon, until they were grouped tightly in their own pool of strange glow still humming with overexcited power from the crystal that Cal wielded, and there was nothing left to move.

Someone was going to have to make a sound eventually, so of course it was Tony who coughed to try to dislodge more of that pollen that he could feel tickling his throat, and still coating his shoulders. When he finally turned to actually check on his team, Tony looked to Cal first to ask, "Did we know he could do that?," already shaking his head faintly with his own answer as he reached to press a grounding palm to Cal's cheek, then brush some of the pollen from his hair. Tony's gaze slid sidelong to Jon then, like he couldn't quite look at him directly, but Tony touched his arm then his back to make sure Jon was still solid and steady, and coax him closer if he needed a crutch. Whether he did or not, Tony decided, "We should clean this shit off," with a indication with his chin back the way they had come, truncating this exploration like the flower itself until maybe they had some natural daylight to work with.

With the flower gone and the the air settling at least partially, Jon casts a look up at Tony for that question. It's set somewhere between caution and the awareness that he has done something Tony disagrees with and play out into an audible exhale as Jon blows some of the pollen away.

"I will not apologize." He decides, yet allows his shoulder to lean against Tony's side for a moment before adding. "But- I'm glad everyone's okay." A short pause before he nods his agreement to Tony's suggestion. "I wouldn't mind a shower."

It was hard to catch your breath when things were still floating in the air, but Cal still tried his best. His own coughing was a weak effort to clear up an otherwise stubbornly gummed up throat, but when it appeared that indeed the flowery threat was otherwise dealt with, he powered down the yellow-bladed lightsaber, reattaching it as the remaining blade and everything else dimmed back down to normal levels.

He glanced at Jon and back at Tony but it seemed like a rhetorical question asked at that point. His head still twinged but only slightly, and whatever was done, was done. "Yeah, all okay. Think we'll be even better once we get some fresh air and away from all this," he nodded, all for getting cleaned up.

Everyone was clearly a little tense and wrung out, so one of them was going to have to talk them through it as their eyes readjusted to the dark left behind without the charge of the lightsaber. Tony gave Jon a nudge, then draped an arm around his shoulders with a clap to Cal's to keep them both close this time as they headed back for the entrance hall. "Apologize for what?" he asked, energetically but clearly not expecting any answers as he rattled on for them. "The part where you didn't tell us that you had reality altering powers, or the part where you yelled at us? Honestly, that was inappropriate, Cal's right there, I won't even be able to fantasize about it now. No offence, Calamari, and, hey, that two sword thing, very slick, not everyone can handle a modular weapon like that, that's some next level tactical thinking, that's 4D chess."

By the time Tony was done, his voice was echoing off of the solid, well preserved stonework of the expansive hall, dusty and abandoned but dry and intact. For a moment, Tony had to consider if the flower itself was even real, or if that was the only way they could collectively rationalize what they were experiencing, and could only conclusively decide that he didn't want to figure it out through continued exposure. The light through the window Cal had opened for them to climb in was a delicate thing now, barely a shift of colour along the shadow-darkened wall of the building with a few stars to lure them back out to the crisp air outside.

"Are you scolding me?" Jon asks with a hint of disbelief. Though Tony isn't wrong, is he? Of course he isn't. And Jon audibly deflates before he adds: "You're right. That was... I'm sorry." He falls silent with that as they keep walking, glad for once for the darkness surrounding them.

What he is less pleased about is the realization that they will likely have to climb back up to that window. Without the vines that will be even more difficult than before.

Leave it to Tony to break up the tension. Cal was thankful for it. He was always thankful for it. No matter what happened, they could still joke a little, they were still all right. He coughed a laugh, shaking his head. "Just glad that that power boost actually came in handy," he said, smiling crookedly.

Whatever he'd been sensing earlier had diminished, so he accounted it towards whatever that plant had been. BD-1 had scanned parts of it, so at least they had something to tag if any more made an appearance anywhere. He kept his lightsaber in hand and stuck close to Jon and Tony as they made their way back to their point of entrance. "Would it be easier for me to go first? Either way, I can help boost you up if you need it."

Of course Cal wasn't intimidated at all by making it back up to that window, and for a moment Tony was about to start apologizing himself for largely only being a distraction to his own team right to the end. But while he might have been lamely human struggling along behind them, he could at least think efficiently now that he wasn't chasing shadows. As they made their way down the stairs, he pointed away from the window, toward the door, and suggested, "Why don't you just lock up behind us?"

Slipping away from Jon, he jogged toward the door to start searching the seams for a series of heavy locks that thunked open with echoes across the stone hall, but he called back, "What do you mean, what happened to not apologizing? If you didn't do that, Cal'd be trying to unwrap us like Christmas presents by now. You took charge of the situation and yelled at that thing until it went away, listen, I don't know why I was surprised. Did you know he was in a band, hot rod? It was a lot like that, with a goofier outfit. You'd love it."

(no subject)

beholding_archivist - 2021-07-14 21:37 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

out_of_order - 2021-07-15 04:19 (UTC) - Expand

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only