chikaidestroyer: (A certain age to his eyes)
Albert Silverberg ([personal profile] chikaidestroyer) wrote2014-09-18 08:32 pm

∞ 106: Echoes in their absence

September 16

[While he had heard of the people -- echoes of people -- appearing around the village, Albert did not happen to see one right away. It's as he's taking a break outside of Celsius Tear that he takes notice of a teenage girl standing in front of the mural by the Welcome Center. He descends the stairs to watch her.

That had been ... almost three years ago now, he recalled as he watched the girl cheerfully set down a bucket of yellow paint. Without paying him any attention or seeing the completed mural in front of her, the girl dipped a paintbrush into the bucket and began making sweeping motions across the mural. Pao-Lin, he finally recalls as she bends over to dip her paintbrush again.

He watches for a while, eventually looking over his shoulder at the other mural that surrounded the fountain. That had been another of her projects with volunteers, done a year later.

He can't help but think about that saying as he watches her paint -- that art only found its value after its artist was gone.]


-----

September 17

[The fountain plaza proves to be a good spot to see the 'echoes,' and Albert decides to take his breaks outside to observe despite the weather looking increasingly storm-like. Sometimes the person he sees is only a flicker of movement, walking around the fountain or sitting on its edge, eating lunch. Once or twice he even sees a person seated or running across a rooftop, leaving him pondering what could have been happening at that time to lead to that behavior.

It's foolish to hope that he'll see a familiar face, he knows. But he still watches.]


-----

September 18, early afternoon

[It seems oddly fitting that he sees echoes of Nami and Yuber on the day of the thunderstorm. Nami, back before she had begun to grow weary of having such awful luck with picking fights with the wrong people. Back before she had been a threat.

...This must have been when Nami declared she would arrest Yuber, going by her uncharacteristic uniform, untouched by the falling rain. He certainly remembered that.]


[Albert can be found in Celsius Tear in the mornings or around the fountain plaza and its stores in the afternoons.]

-----

September 19, evening
Content warning: limb loss

[It happens when he is returning to the hot springs teleporter from visiting his giant owl. The headache comes out of nowhere, like a wave crashing over him, and he drops his journal from where he had been loosely holding it against his side. Shaking his head to clear the disorientation, Albert concentrates enough on Tsinku enough to summon a sphere of contained electricity to light the ground. Upon spotting his journal, he crouches to pick it up.

That's when he notices that there is nothing at the end of his shirt sleeve -- at both of his shirt sleeves.

Dazed, he lifts his hands up to the light to get a better look. But there are no hands. Just dark red masses of muscle and arteries that seem to be in a bizarre state of suspension. The muscles visible twitch as his forearms tense up, and he stares at them blankly for what seems like ages.

The ball of electricity fizzles and disappears as he passes out.

It's over an hour later when he finally wakes up again, his headache worse and his senses slow to reorient themselves. His ragged breathing is answered by a deep hooting noise, and he looks up to see Bilruben's large, glassy eyes reflecting what little light was coming from the artificially displayed moon. The giant owl doesn't move as he sits there in the darkness, a silent sentry while he tries to stop hyperventilating.

He can barely think. The confused, despairing noises he makes are largely incoherent, earning him a tilted stare from the owl as it watches. He doesn't know how long he sits there before he fumbles in the dark, half turned over in the wet grass, to try opening his journal.]


I need help.

[It's breathless and strained. Short and vague.]
deathsdoctor: (Neutral | Cool look)

18th

[personal profile] deathsdoctor 2014-09-19 09:20 am (UTC)(link)
... huh. Guess it runs in the family after all.

[Softly. Someone's just probably just earned his place in the ninja clan he married into. It's likely his silent approach behind Albert hasn't gone noticed - Law tends to come onto the scene in moments of distraction and unawareness.

This isn't his first ghost.

No, the first ghost was a person he would expect to be a ghost to begin with.]
deathsdoctor: (Neutral | contemplative)

[personal profile] deathsdoctor 2014-09-21 03:56 am (UTC)(link)
[Law's a teleporter. One never knows with him.]

A little. Yeah. Mostly though, she reminds me of her mother. Maybe it's the gun.
deathsdoctor: (Default)

[personal profile] deathsdoctor 2014-09-21 04:54 am (UTC)(link)
Mm... yeah, a little. [Bell-mere much better than Nojiko, but both had been in Luceti before.] I've met the family for a couple Strawhats.

[Ace and Sabo for Luffy. ... seen Zeff for Sanji. Things that couldn't be except for this place.]

(no subject)

[personal profile] deathsdoctor - 2014-09-21 05:33 (UTC) - Expand

1/2

[personal profile] deathsdoctor - 2014-09-21 06:29 (UTC) - Expand

2/3

[personal profile] deathsdoctor - 2014-09-21 06:32 (UTC) - Expand

Done

[personal profile] deathsdoctor - 2014-09-21 06:40 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] deathsdoctor - 2014-09-23 03:41 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] deathsdoctor - 2014-09-23 04:39 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] deathsdoctor - 2014-09-23 07:14 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] deathsdoctor - 2014-09-23 08:24 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] deathsdoctor - 2014-09-27 05:46 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] deathsdoctor - 2014-09-28 08:54 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] deathsdoctor - 2014-09-30 09:03 (UTC) - Expand
ofwesternwinds: (pic#6251060)

sept. 18th

[personal profile] ofwesternwinds 2014-09-19 09:20 am (UTC)(link)
[Of all the times to run into a friend. Frankly, it's baffling to see Albert just sitting out in this weather like this. But he soon catches on quick enough once he realizes just what the man has been staring at.

He doesn't know anything about who the echo might belong to, but clearly Albert must recognize them for him to be staring at her so intently. ... Rudy honestly couldn't blame him, having seen echoes of familiar faces himself. In a way, they felt like sad reminders for the boy. With a sad smile, Rudy approaches the man with a wave. He's brought an umbrella too, just in case. Surely the man wasn't anticipating to get soaked out here, right?]


Now you're the last face I'd expect to be seeing sitting out in all this rain. [His smile fades into a slight frown, concerned.] Everything all right?
ofwesternwinds: (Default)

[personal profile] ofwesternwinds 2014-09-21 01:52 am (UTC)(link)
[Even so, Rudy can’t help but hold out his umbrella to the guy. It’s honestly kind of weird to see Albert out here in bad weather like this.]

'f you say so. [Briefly, his smile fades a moment as he glances in the direction Albert’s been staring at.] So, you’ve been seeing them too, huh…
endgames: (the clouds beckon)

Sept 17

[personal profile] endgames 2014-09-21 03:27 am (UTC)(link)
[Shikamaru will join you, Albert. Not by choice, but because the apparition of the grocery store being on fire with a ten meter... something... towering over it while laughing manically gives one a need to pause.

He clucks his tongue, coming to a stop by the fountain and shoving his hands into his pockets, a folded-up umbrella tucked under one armpit.]


Well that's something you don't see every day.
endgames: (Considering)

[personal profile] endgames 2014-09-21 08:04 am (UTC)(link)
Tch. What a pain. [He sighs dramatically and folds his hands behind his head. He was kinda shopping yeah, even if it wasn't for himself per se.] These usually last long?

[Given how often he's noticed Albert sitting in this spot between a day and yesterday, Shikamaru has no doubt the other man has been observing these things more closely than he has.]
endgames: (Shrug)

[personal profile] endgames 2014-09-22 12:12 am (UTC)(link)
Sometimes. [Shikamaru watches the demon turn into a strange, centipede-like thing with a raised brow. You know this Aku stuff was before his time and what little he knows of him is from the journals, but it's interesting to see this with his own two eyes now.]

Sometimes I recognize them, sometimes I don't. They're all over the place, timewise.

(no subject)

[personal profile] endgames - 2014-09-22 04:56 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] endgames - 2014-09-23 02:16 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] endgames - 2014-09-23 02:53 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] endgames - 2014-09-23 05:39 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] endgames - 2014-09-23 06:12 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] endgames - 2014-09-26 05:19 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] endgames - 2014-09-26 07:55 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] endgames - 2014-09-29 01:52 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] endgames - 2014-09-29 22:30 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] endgames - 2014-09-30 00:39 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] endgames - 2014-09-30 06:02 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] endgames - 2014-10-02 04:41 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] endgames - 2014-10-20 21:01 (UTC) - Expand
corrinesbell: (i'll show you my power)

19th

[personal profile] corrinesbell 2014-09-21 07:33 pm (UTC)(link)
[It's a good thing she's paying attention. That voice never asks for help.]

Help with what?

[All the internal alarms go off at once when it does.]
corrinesbell: (wtf)

[personal profile] corrinesbell 2014-09-21 07:49 pm (UTC)(link)
[What?]

What? [What is all her mind can produce; Sheena snatches her journal off the counter as if bringing it closer to her face will make something better happen.]

What happened? Did somebody attack you? Where are you?
corrinesbell: (i'm listening)

[personal profile] corrinesbell 2014-09-21 08:04 pm (UTC)(link)
[That's enough location information for her.]

I'm coming, okay? [There isn't time to try to find anybody else. What if he bleeds to death out there, or more pieces of him start...disappearing? If pieces of other people start disappearing?

Sheena's on the move without so much as a note for anyone else in the tea shop. They can handle themselves.]


Call me again if somebody else gets there.

(no subject)

[personal profile] corrinesbell - 2014-09-21 20:22 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] corrinesbell - 2014-09-21 20:50 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] corrinesbell - 2014-09-21 21:03 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] corrinesbell - 2014-09-21 21:26 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] corrinesbell - 2014-09-21 21:47 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] corrinesbell - 2014-09-21 22:15 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] corrinesbell - 2014-09-22 03:37 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] corrinesbell - 2014-09-23 16:08 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] corrinesbell - 2014-09-25 13:35 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] corrinesbell - 2014-10-10 02:32 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] corrinesbell - 2014-10-10 02:52 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] corrinesbell - 2014-10-10 03:08 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] corrinesbell - 2014-10-10 03:56 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] corrinesbell - 2014-10-15 19:44 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] corrinesbell - 2014-11-17 14:56 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] corrinesbell - 2014-11-21 15:42 (UTC) - Expand
wise_maiden: (always looking out)

19th

[personal profile] wise_maiden 2014-09-21 09:17 pm (UTC)(link)
[Evening, and she hadn't yet returned to the house from the flower shop, though she had been planning on it.

The journal is usually open in the background, and it picks up the sounds of an odd conversation. A call for help - and a conversation of familiar voices at that.]


What's going on? Are you hurt?
wise_maiden: (you're not getting away with this)

[personal profile] wise_maiden 2014-09-21 10:16 pm (UTC)(link)
I'll be there.

[Simple as that. Her work is done for the day anyway, even if it was mostly meant as a distraction.]

Keep talking, if it helps you stay focused.
wise_maiden: (the space between)

[personal profile] wise_maiden 2014-09-21 10:48 pm (UTC)(link)
[She would have no trouble locking it if that was the actual issue.

Right now she has to think. Was there time to fetch Astrid, or Noishe? Probably not, since she still had to cross the square to get over to the teleporter in the first place. Even so, if traveling was part of his problem...

A bridge to be crossed once she could actually assess what that was.

Water. Supplies. Those she carries with her, so that's not a problem either.]


Call out if anything changes.

(no subject)

[personal profile] wise_maiden - 2014-09-23 17:22 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] wise_maiden - 2014-09-29 01:46 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] wise_maiden - 2014-10-10 04:54 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] wise_maiden - 2014-10-25 18:43 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] wise_maiden - 2014-10-26 05:01 (UTC) - Expand