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Calling Rose
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Aloysius's hands ached for his weapon of choice at the sound of those screams. Now would probably be a good time to look around, at least with his minotaur companion he stood a good chance of finding out about what' was going on here without suffering the same fate as whoever that was, whether it be because she successfully killed it or simply distracted it long enough for him to find safety. Preferably, the latter as providing timely aid to another could only strengthen his position here.
Kathy turned her large head in the direction of the screams, “That's not a good sound. You think...”
She headed towards the balcony's edge, one of her hands digging at her pocket for her cell. The incredible tightness of her now shredded jeans (more shorts than pants now) along with her larger fingers made the action a difficult one to say the least.
“That this is happening to others around us? That seems likely.” replied Aloysius as he slid along the carpet next to her, “Kathy, I think we need to stick together here. Whatever THIS is. We'll get through it together. Not to mention its our best chance for getting our memories straightened out.” The naga wasn't all that sure he wanted this Allen's memories back. He didn't think his own personality could be subsumed by the other but he couldn't be sure of that either.
Kathy succeeded in retrieving her cell as she snapped, “Our memories? There's nothing wrong with my head, buddy. Well...other than the fact I can see my mouth.” She rotated her jaw and went cross eyed for a moment before shaking off her distraction.
Aloysius felt a burst of irritation at her tone but quickly quashed it. This was not the time to let his emotions get the best of him. Besides he'd gotten the info he'd wanted: that she apparently wasn't having the same issues he was. That made sense in a way. Minotaur were not known for their supple minds, clearly Kathy had overpowered it just as he had this Allen person.
“Holy Bejeezus Batman.” muttered Kathy as she reached the much shorter rail than she remembered. From this vantage point on the third floor she could see most of the library, the top two floors were arranged as large balconies overlooking the ground floor, the atrium.
The library was chaos.
People were running in every direction, a veritable riot of motion. Interspersed throughout were individuals who seemed to be off in their own worlds, either just standing there in shock or curled up in the fetal position. Invariably, those ones had bodies that had been changed, the variety of transformations just short of unbelievable if she weren't seeing it with her own eyes.
Overlaid upon this scene of bedlam was a....crack (it was the only word her struggling mind could come up with) a crack in the air a good six feet across. It was like the world around her were somehow a 2 dimensional window pane and there was just this crack...this crack in her reality. It wasn't quite in sync with everything around it. Just looking at it made her head hurt. Swirling around it was a maelstrom of the red mist that filled the library, much thicker and angrier a storm cloud of the stuff. It even had bolts of black lightning that stabbed out from within its roiling folds every so often.
As she watched, a much larger branch of the black energy struck somewhere to her left around the second floor. The ground beneath her feet shook as what looked like a massive tree trunk exploded through the floor about 50 feet away, sending bookcases tumbling as the plant stretched up towards the ceiling. Up where it met the glass of the sky light, it actually seemed to merge with the clear panes, forming a twisted organic ceiling of sorts though it only extended a few meters in each direction before normal glass resumed.
“There.” Aloysius pointed directly across to the balcony on the other side of the atrium from them. There was an open area there filled with tables and people. Frightened, frantic people. Humans the majority. But the source of the screams were there. Some sort of undead, its form twisted and mishapen, wielded a jagged bone looking weapon as it pursued four individuals. Three youths. A human male and female. Some type of elf lass with those ears.
Choose the weapon Aloysius's hands ached for.
(Deciding his weapon proficiency)
What actions should they take?
Investigate the 'crack'?
Intervene across the way?
Call someone?
Something else entirely?
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