Up Against The Echo In The Mirror

[monochromatically]

Who; Anyone!
What; Mirrorverse swap Logs
Where; Around Aterat ( will be replied to with account signalinterference) and the Mirrorverse (will be replied to with Mono’s regular account monochromatically )
When; Early October for a full week
Warnings; A very tall man for the Aterat side, probably warnings for stalking if he decides your character is a problem and violence if a fight breaks out. Might be some fighting on the Mirrorverse side as well if Mono and whoever he meets run into something bad.
NOTE; For info please see his journal at this link HERE.



Mono in the Mirror World Log - OTA

Mono hadn’t meant to slip through the mirror. In fact, he made it a habit to avoid mirrors in general for his own awkward feelings towards his reflection, even before the weird portal mirrors had appeared in Aterat. When the portal mirrors had appeared and Mono had randomly caught sight of his reflection once or twice, an anxious feeling always welled up inside him. He still saw himself, everyone did, it was just that Mono’s other self did not look like Mono as he did now... Instead it was the too tall, imposing, looming figure he had feared for a long time... Still did, if only in a slightly different way.

So Mono had avoided crossing in front of the mirror portals or getting close to them as much as possible. It was fairly easy. It wasn’t like the televisions in his world. Those beckoned to him and demanded his attention in order to open the door and let that version of himself free.

It worked out well enough until suddenly it didn’t. His powers had been acting up a little more in the last month for reasons he didn’t know or understand... without even trying to do anything with his ability, reaching for a mug of cocoa had caused it to fly off the end table and across the floor. With a yelp, the boy had hurried to clean up… only to trip and tumble through the mirror.

Leaving Mono's ever present moth friend to flutter about frantically, trying to figure out where her dear little friend had gone...

... Now he was stuck wandering a gloomy, unfamiliar city. If Mono were honest, the energy of the place and way things looked reminded him a little too much of his world in the worst ways. It hadn’t taken long for the boy to fall back on old instincts. Moving cautiously, keeping close to cover and making as little noise as possible when he explored to try to find a way out.

Mono was hesitant to approach anyone, choosing to sneak about from building to building above. Using various (sometimes risky) methods to move across larger gaps. Sometimes… Sometimes there’s a wistful feeling that distracts him, thinking of times when he had someone there to help make things a little easier. He tries to dash those thoughts immediately though, because it’s hard to not think about how poorly that ended for him last time… No, it was better to work alone in these kinds of places.

Doesn’t stop the boy from being curious, though, as he spots a familiar figure that he didn’t expect to see here. He isn’t innocent or naïve enough to approach immediately, though. He needs to make sure they are who they look like. Not whatever strange version exists in this world… And if it is an alternate version of someone, he at least needs to know they aren’t dangerous.

(ooc: Mono will probably be the first to approach your character, so feel free to write your character exploring the mirror verse in whatever way you like. If you want something different, I’m game for that! If you want your character to notice him first, that’s cool too, but his reactions will vary if addressed or approached directly. This goes for Aterat people he knows or the mirror versions of them! :D)




Thin Man Wandering Aterat - Option A - OTA

It’s too… something. Colourful? Noisy? … Alive? He hadn’t cared for the other place he was on the other side of the mirror. Nothing for him to do, no way to reach viewers in the usual manner, but he’d still carved out a little portion of the city to loom about in without bothering much with the others that had arrived there given teamwork was a joke that he'd been the punchline of so long ago... He respected the other powerful arrivals boundaries and (mostly) didn't bother with anyone more than strictly necessary. In that way, it wasn’t entirely unlike his world, where the monsters each ruled over their particular location. The Pale City was his, The Maw was The Lady’s (though from what he could spy from the few televisions there… that may have changed) and so on and so forth.

Still… Clearly no one on the other side of the mirror or in this more lively world had ever been touched by that which everyone, even he himself, was meant to be led by. Hard to tell if it was disappointment or jealousy that he felt as he considered that, but he decided on disgust in the end.

Oh, there was one or two things he did find he favourable about all this, though. The Tell-Phone for one. A fascinating device, so different from the useless hunks of plastic that sat around in his world. These were small, portable… And capable of broadcasting video across some kind of network by anyone who happened to have one. Everyone was easy to reach out to. Accessible anytime, anywhere! How much easier, how much faster, would spreading the signal be for him and the Eye if they had something like this to work with instead of just the television?

For another... he was getting a rather interesting chance to stretch his legs for a lot longer than the usual cycles allowed at this point, and you didn’t look a gift horse in the mouth. If the eye ever did extend its reach to this place, well, he was here and he would answer to it again if needed… And it always needed him.

But for now...? For now, he was going to wander around. To see this other city that his smaller (naïve, stubborn, annoying…) self had been running around in for however long he’d been here.


Thin Man Wandering Aterat - Option B - OTA

So you made the mistake of going out too late at night, ignored the prickling sense of dread that crept up on you and now you’re being stalked through the streets of Aterat by a very imposing person… Are they a person? Perhaps an ‘entity’ was the better word for it. He certainly doesn’t move like a normal human. More like something out of a scary story, all tall and menacing and definitely threatening. It looked to be dressed like a detective from those old black and white films, but his skin was pale and his eyes sunken… Is he alive or is he the living dead? Whose to say? All you know is that you should probably focus on getting away rather than trying to strike up a conversation.

Unfortunately, every time you think you’ve lost him, there he is again. Sometimes he’s humming a low, ominous tune. His voice is raspy and harsh from a lack of use, and his gaze conveys a level of disgust with either the sight of you or the fact that you’re insisting on this pointless game of cat and mouse that you clearly can’t win.

What do you do? Do you try to escape into a building and hope he’s too tall to fit inside? Keep hoping that you lose him? Or do you stand your ground and see what happens? Up to you, hopefully at least one of these options is the right one.

(ooc: On the flip side, you could also go with your character intervening to be a big ol hero if the other way doesn't work for you)

Comments

Option B flipped

[faithfulsupport]

Ignis knew this place was getting weird. Sometimes it still surprised him even after all of this time at how weird or creepy this place could get. Even if he told himself repeatedly that this was to be expected, especially at this time of year, it didn't help at times.

His green eyes had caught sight of a rather odd and stretched and unfamiliar figure stalking through the streets. Ignis had no idea who or what this thing or person was, but he was determined to keep someone safe from it. Unfortunately whenever he got a good hunt on, the entity disappeared entirely. However, that didn't deter him.

The humming was a bit unnerving, but he would never show it. His daggers weren't out yet, but they could be within a second or two. And when he did think he heard a voice coming from it, it was low and gravelly to his ears.

Turning another corner, Ignis again lost sight of his quarry.

Drat.

"Where in the devil have you gone to this time?" he asked in a low tone as his eyes searched for the thing.

[signalinterference]

Ah… When Mono switched back, he was going to be rather sorry to hear that Ignis had come across the older him. Especially to have come across him while the man was looming about, undoubtedly looking for someone to catch.

The man had been roaming as he looked for stray locals, absently wondering just how much of his power worked in this place. There was such an odd sensation of the lack on some points, being cut off from the tower and the way it amplified everything. No televisions to access, a place to drop off those collected to become something other than they had been or to join the viewers.

Feelings of disgust and annoyance at the very colourful window displays and evidence of life from the earlier hours everywhere, giving the impression that all was simply gone to sleep and it would all start again the next day. So productive, so lively, so wrong. He skipped forward, form stuttering slightly and appearing at the end of another street like an old film fast-forwarded.

His decrepit, gaunt form looming around a corner to see what was there, unaware that he had a tail… At the moment, but that could change easily if Ignis wasn’t lucky.

Drawing too close might make the Ignis’s phone act up. A static hiss would issue from its speakers as it reacted to the signal that the man gave off. The same signal Mono gave off, but larger and more potent.

Of course, it would also let Ignis know the man was near as easily as the ominous humming would, which he could use to his advantage. As long as the man didn't notice first.

[faithfulsupport]

He remained in hunter mode and was half wishing he had his daggers in his hands. It was a danger that he could hear and feel but as far as sight, his quarry was eluding him at the moment. He'd heard screams of people earlier but those had fallen silent and Ignis was wise to this place. But it was better that he was out here hunting and not his husband or the boy he cared for as a son.

Those phrases had been disagreed on by his other half and so Ignis hadn't uttered them.

There, he saw a shadow and he crouched down, moving as fast as he dared to it, attempting to get close enough to see what he was dealing with. "Stay where you are." Ignis stated in a low tone, as he continued to advance on the thing.

He summoned his daggers and kept the points behind him instead of in front as he moved closer.

[signalinterference]

The man’s form wavered slightly, slow, purposeful steps drawing him down the next street before it skipped forward again in a blur. There was still nothing here, nothing worth seeing. Apparently, he’d found the last stragglers of the evening earlier, and there were few left to be found from his wandering at this point. Such a pity…

A low, quiet voice catches his attention as it reaches his ears in the evening silence. Slowly the man turned in its direction, head canting to one side at a severe angle and looking around to see if it could spot the source. Steps carrying him closer to where Ignis was crouched low, the ominous humming resuming. Easier to hear as he drew nearer and alerting Ignis that perhaps his quarry had realized it was being followed.

Lamplight flickered and jumped as he passed it by, the air growing steadily heavy the nearer he got.

A crow that was pecking at something along the sidewalk instinctively took off, wings flapping as it took to the air… But slowed visible almost as though it were moving through molasses, time in the greater area around the man slowing to a crawl as the man defaulted to his usual tactics when dealing with those who weren’t viewers. The bird wasn’t something the entity was interested in, though. He was more interested in seeing if anyone had really dared to follow him.

[faithfulsupport]

The presence of the crow got Ignis' attention and he had heard that humming again. But at this point he would resume his stalking as soon as he could catch sight of it. He wasn't afraid of facing someone or of fighting, he was pretty damn efficient at it.

of course the low light wasn't helping and he had noticed how the air felt heavier, more oppressive and he didn't like that at all honestly. Still, he was a man on a mission and he was damned and determined to get this riddle figured out.

Daggers were out as Ignis crouched low to the ground. His arms crossed his face so that the weapons were right up near his face. And then he waited.

[signalinterference]

The crow’s ascent into the sky was so slow, even as it flapped its wings like something moving in slow motion. It wasn’t until it was rather high that its pace resumed at a normal speed and it disappeared into the night with a loud, displeased cawing sound once it was out of range of the man’s abilities.

If Ignis didn’t want to deal with that, he should keep a considerable amount of distance if he could. Of course, with the odd skipping motion of the man teleporting forward now and again, it was hard to manage that at times. The man had a long time to practice and perfect its skills in pursuit. One didn’t become the most feared entity of the Pale City otherwise.

As it approached, it continued to stare ahead. Eyes like dark pits, full of television static, took in the area before it. The humming finally faded to a stop, and a raspy croak of a voice was heard. “I know you’re there… Know that you’re following. Why.” The question is flat and rough, as though it wasn’t used to speaking to people, but there was a mild curiosity felt over the idea that anyone would stalk him instead of the other way around. It seemed a dumb decision to the man, but this world was so full of life and hope… It made them that way, he thinks.

[faithfulsupport]

This whole place was strange, and to watch the crow was riveting and yet horrifying at the same time. So whoever or whatever it was that he was hunting had some sort of time magic along with teleportation or whatever skill it actually might be.

Narrowing his green eyes, the royal advisor shook his head. There really wasn't time to get anyone else here to feal with this with him and no happenstance pair up was likely to happen either. No, he was very clearly on his own and that was it.

As he realized whoever this was, was aware of his presence, Ignis half backed up as he heard the entity speak. The eyes were arresting and alarming and he shook his head. "Who are you? And why are you threatening this world?"

If the other was aware of him, there was no point in hiding, but Ignis retained his position anyhow because he had an ability to jump.

[signalinterference]

Where Mono feared what he could do with his abilities if he pursued those he hadn’t attempted yet, the Thin Man embraced them and make use of them at both the behest of the Eye entity and on his own when it suited him.

And now it suited him very well, being in unfamiliar territory with something to focus on. For the moment, he simply observed, as they found themselves appraising one another and trying to guess when the time to act was, perhaps.

The man’s eyes were very alarming, weren’t they? They also might be somewhat familiar to Ignis himself, given he saw similar static filled eyes every day without the malice behind them. Was rather odd, was it not?

The question is met with a long silence again; the man thinking about his answer, perhaps. Although it was more that a few things were clicking into place once he got a better look at Ignis. He knew the sight of the figure crouched a distance away from him, had seen it with the boy when watching through the mirror on the other side… He would laugh, if he were capable of proper humor. Instead, he took a slow step forward. “I am the source of the signal. I do not need a name… but when I leave the tower, I have heard those who have not joined the entity call me the ‘Thin Man’ or ‘The Man in the Hat.’” When they run from him, when they warn someone that he is near. No one talks to him but the Eye. So, names are pointless. Names are for people with connections with other people to recognize each other.

The other question gets a long, low hum as he raises a hand, and a pile of crates near Ignis begin to tremor slightly. “This place is wrong. The people need fixing.” They needed to know how things were meant to be. They needed the guidance of The Eye.

[faithfulsupport]

For his part, Ignis was struggling with the information and the eyes. But here it was describing the things that Mono had. A sudden fear filled him that this figure was somehow searching for the boy to bring him back to that other world, which Ignis wouldn't allow under any circumstances. If it were up to him, he would be bringing the boy to his world and hopefully the boy's long lost friend Six would show up before that happened.

Not only Mono was in Ignis' plan, but so too was bringing Nida, that man he'd fallen in love with quite unexpectedly. And even if the royal advisor didn't breathe the word, a family was what he privately called them.

So with a fierceness in his tone, the man slowly stood, daggers still at the ready. "If anyone needs fixing, it's you. You will not harm my son or the people of this city. I won't allow it."

[signalinterference]

Of course, it was the Ferryman who brought children back to the Nowhere, rather than the Man in the Hat. He was simply what could happen, depending on the child and their potential abilities. How useful they might be to the eye. If the Ferryman arrived to take Mono, none would know it until the boy was already gone, and that was the way it had always been. Not that Mono could rightly explain that himself, his own memories were so foggy and cluttered with countless cycles that always restarted well after that point in his life. The only thing the boy realized now was what he was meant to become when he went back.

Ignis’s misconception would soon be rectified, for the man found himself rather intrigued with the comment. His Son? How interesting… “You speak of things you do not understand.” Lamplight flickered and an old crate flung itself to hit the wall next to Ignis, a ploy to distract him as the man’s form blurred and skipped forward to appear much closer than he was before, bringing the field that slowed everything down with him. “The brat is not on this side of the mirrors anymore. He slipped up and switched.”

The man tilted his head as he leaned forward again, almost as though he wished to observe how Ignis processed the information. If he’d realize… And all the while, the man’s form wavered, preparing for a final skip forward.

[faithfulsupport]

He nearly collided with the crate, but managed just barely to miss it. But as his vision refocused, he found that the threatening presence was all that much closer. Ignis gripped his daggers, preparing to throw them and setting them on fire was his next move. After that, he was going to dismiss them and jump.

His body was tensed and his jaw was clenched, with his green eyes narrowed to slits behind the spectacles. But then those words hit him hard. "You're..you're what my son is destined to become?"

If that was true, Ignis needed to make damn sure that Mono didn't fulfill that destiny, just as much as he was determined to not allow Noct to be swept up into his fate of having to die.

Defiance and anger sparked along the advisor's body and he spoke in a low tone as he set fire to his daggers. "No. I won't let you take him away or turn into whatever you are."

Aw Ignis ;;

[signalinterference]

The man doesn’t feel many emotions at this point beyond vague resignation, disgust, and a constant simmering anger (that had begun as hurt) at the world around him. He had been shaped by the Eye and the tower and the continued cycle that he had been caught up in for so very long… but there is something close to satisfaction as he notes the moment that his comment hits home. “Got it in one.” He commented, tone still gravelly but blank, matter of fact as he straightened about as much as he ever did, making his impossible height that much more obvious.

The dark pits of static that were his eyes narrowed in turn, though, as Ignis continued. “I am him, and he is me.” The man responded, form blurring again in a telltale sign he was about to teleport in front of Ignis directly if he didn’t move or do something.

“It cannot be stopped. There is no end to the cycle.” The man had tried, to his credit. Even as the eye had swayed his way of seeing things, there had been moments where he thought perhaps separating the traitor from his younger self would prevent it. But his younger self always had to play the hero, never realized he was bringing about his own downfall and cementing the role he would be forced into. “He will end me. He will become me. Part of us will return to the hunter’s swamp and start it all again. It has happened countless times.” The firm belief of you cannot stop it is implied.

He loves his boy

[faithfulsupport]

Ignis didn't get pushed towards the elevated classes as a lad for nothing. But even as he realized the gravity of the situation as the..man acknowledged that he was correct, Ignis couldn't help but remain angry.

There had to be a way out, even as he moved closer to try and see this man up close better. Reason had to prevail here, he couldn't let his son get caught up into this terrifying plot. Nida wasn't here to back him up or give him any counsel so he was on his own, very much so.

"We shall see about that." Ignis growled. His daggers were still drawn, but he couldn't use them. To do so would hurt Mono and the advisor wasn't keen to risk injuring his son.

"A swamp, in your world I presume?" Ignis at this point was gathering intel and if he could find a way to disrupt this cycle..maybe one of the Aspects could assist him in journeying back to Mono's world. This had to be broken.

[signalinterference]

The wavering of his form stilled for a moment, the man halting his plans to teleport momentarily as he studied Ignis. What a peculiar human… Such determination in the man’s tone, something that so few had left in his world. How long would it last in the Pale City? How long would he resist the signal’s corruption before succumbing to it? The eye had taken everyone aside from those who had been changed and given domains… “We shall… We always do.” It was clear the man did not expect to see anything he had not seen before.

The closest sound to a sigh is heard, or perhaps it was a rattle of something in his lungs at the question. Really, Ignis did seem so very stubborn. Were people in the Nowhere like this before the eye? Perhaps, probably… Even he had long ago when he was his smaller self before the change. “Where else would I speak of?” The voice droned with a resignation that the man was going to keep asking pointless questions. The wooded swampland was the twisted Hunter’s domain. It all began there and in a way… Fate was cemented there, where Mono met the little traitor and befriended her.

The fact that Ignis had not attempted to openly attack him since the truth of his identity was revealed was very telling in a way. On the one hand, the further he stayed from the man, the safer he was. On the other, it would put him at risk if the man decided to pour all his energy into doing something about this confrontation.

[faithfulsupport]

"We shall see." Ignis replied, his tone ringing in defiance. But his shoulders slumped and he knew he couldn't fight this..whatever it could be called. Monstrosity came to mind but then he duly recalled that this thing was his son in another form.

Shaking his head at the figure's question, his eyes closed for a moment as he spoke. "I cannot fight you. For you are whatever my son is to become and I will not harm my boy. However, I shall fight you if you harm anyone. But if you truly are him, then know that I love you and I would do anything for you. You are not of my blood, born of the House of Scientia, but I still count you as a child of my heart if not of my body. And I would still give you that name. The same one that Nida now bears."

Ignis had no road map for this, and no previous experience except the love that he bore for the Prince who became King. And all he'd done was fight to protect him and keep him alive. And it felt like that was all that he could do here.

He would cry about this later and he opened his eyes, quickly wiping the tears away.

[signalinterference]

[ ooc: So I am thinking for the sake of Ignis not having to fight his son and not having Thin Man force it/attack (because unfortunately he would) maybe we could say this meeting took place near the end of the week when Mono and Thin Man get forcibly switched back? Thin Man just up and disappears, and all is safe and Ignis gets a break lol. ]

The Thin Man let out a long, drawn-out breath like a sigh. This person seemed far too sentimental about the boy. Did he not understand how dangerous this decision was? That it left him open for attack in return, a weakness revealed to exploit? Or was that in itself a bluff in an attempt to lull him into a false sense of security? Probably that, the man would bet… The world he came from was rather bleak and ruthless, and he’d learned his lesson about trusting people long ago.

Another shudder of energy ran through a nearby rubbish bin, threatening to fly as a crate had earlier.

[faithfulsupport]

[ooc: That works for me!]

As much as Ignis might be sentimental about Mono, he was still prepared to defend himself and could be ready at a moment's notice. But the thought of having to fight his boy left Ignis feeling devastated. This was never what he would ever want. So he quietly waited to see what the other would do and flinched as the energy source made its presence known.

With a sigh, the advisor readied himself for whatever would happen next.

[signalinterference]

[ooc: Excellent, Ignis does not deserve to deal with that. ;; ]

The man’s form blurred and jerked forward like an old movie being fast forwarded, appearing much closer than he had been. “You should have left when you had the chance.” The figure loomed, hand outstretched to reach for Ignis with the intent of using his ability to tug the other forward and catch him, as he had the people of the Pale City often enough.

But the force and the slowed down time field disappeared, and silence fell upon the streets.

The man was gone, with no trace and nothing left to indicate he’d ever been there beyond the splintered boards from broken crates and Ignis’s memories of the conversation that came before.

The mirror world’s time limit for switches had been reached, and the Thin Man was gone back to that other place while Mono had presumably been returned to where he’d fallen through the mirror at home in the first place.

Wrap?

[faithfulsupport]

"I will not leave willingly." Ignis replied, feeling more tired than he already had. He didn't want to fight this man since his son was intertwined with it, but he couldn't let him rampage through the city either. That, he still had to defend.

Defiant emerald eyes met the outstretched hand but then he was gone? Ignis looked around and even moved to look around buildings. There was no trace and he still searched for clues because he had to find out what was going on.

Looking up and down everywhere, eventually he decided that their duel was done and the royal advisor returned home.