kingdomdressing | (no subject)

[Piles and piles of papers litter one of the tables in the main room today, as Ienzo shuffles through his notes with one hand and scribbles down more with the other.

There's an empty cage to the side of the couch with bent and mangled bars suggesting that whatever dwelled inside the cage was far from a timid creature.]

Let's see... Dusks are known to attack using strange contortions of their bodies. It's extremely difficult to harm them, and they should be approached with caution... hrm.

[Scribble, scribble...]

Heartless should be avoided at all costs, aside from the White Mushroom and Rare Truffle...

[Scribble, scribble, shift... He places these notes to the side, quickly skimming the results of the survey he conducted several months ago before peering towards his rather limited data on Unversed with a sigh.]

I suppose I could always ask about these creatures, if nothing else.

[ooc: No spoilers in the post, and BBS characters are welcome, but please watch your spoilers, as the game still hasn't hit the shelves.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Ack!

[He'll reach out to remove the shuriken, or try. This is his research, and he doesn't want it in the hands of someone else, much less someone who doesn't understand his work.]

[and there's another three thunks as more shurikens land in a quick line up Ienzo's other sleeve, before Zexion bends and reaches to calmly retrieve those notes, glancing up to meet Ienzo's eyes as he does so, voice very soft.]

Perhaps you don't realize it, but I could very easily aim to kill you instead of simply trapping you like this.

Fool. There is nothing to gain from stealing the research of others.

[Curses. He's going to try and struggle free as best he can, even if it's futile.]

[Zexion's lips twitch into a smile, and Ienzo may notice everything in the room suddenly going still, then the room seeming to go a deep, blood red. he isn't pinned to the table any longer, his body instead stretched and bound at wrists and ankles to a a giant cross.

Zexion's eyes never leave his as he walks up, dangling Ienzo's notes for him to see- right before they go up in flames.]

Such a shame that you are so greedy with your information. If you won't share it, it's only fair that nobody has it, correct?

[There aren't even any words coming from him. The illusion has his complete and utter attention, as does the sight of his notes vanishing in flames.]

[in the blink of an eye there's not one, but ten Zexions surrounding Ienzo with those precious notes dangling in their hands. how are there more? perhaps he didn't burn them all at once after all. there's smoke coming from the bottom of each of the papers, then the spark of a flame.]

I'll keep you here like this for the next three days, where you can think about what you've done.

[He winces at the sight of his precious work being burned to a crisp, struggling to break free from the cross.]

This can't be real... It's an illusion, isn't it?

[As someone semi-versed in illusive magic, it only makes sense.]

It is, and it isn't.

[the doubles of him abruptly disappear as if they were never there. then Zexion's hand moves so fast that it's hard to track, but the loud thud of a shuriken sinking into the wood exactly an inch above Ienzo's right hand, and the vibration of the wood from the force of it probably feel very real indeed.]

This place is most assuredly an illusion, where I can control time and everything else in it. What is not an illusion, is your body's reactions.

[It indeed felt real. Shockingly so... Naturally, he looks a bit uneasy.]

And you're going to keep me here for three days...

Seventy-one hours, fifty-nine minutes and thirty seconds remain.

[his lips twitch into a cruel smile. the shuriken is gone if Ienzo looks, the wood it had stabbed into not even marred.]

Unless of course, you were to do as I asked to.

[He shakes his head. While he has no problem sharing his knowledge, he refuses to be manipulated, especially by a Zexion.]

So be it, then.

[and after what does indeed feel like a full three days, but is really only seconds outside of the illusion, Zexion will release him, stepping back a bit to watch the effect on him. there is no physical evidence of any kind of abuse, after all.]