White Mourning [semi-open]

[tiredcharmer]

Who: Tyzias, her depression, and you!
What: Tyzias comes out of her self-imposed exile.
When: Early January
Where: The Campus
Warnings: Depression, minor dysphoria, implied suicidal ideation
Notes: The warnings are serious. If you're triggered by any of these topics, please don't open the cut text.


Caustic Echo (open)
After the Third Calamity descended upon Diatu and Tyzias was forced to reveal her true nature to save it, she disappeared.

Well, that's not exactly accurate. She got healed, made her excuses, walked to her room, locked the door, and didn't come out for eight days. There were no responses to any knocks at the door, and any attempts to force an entrance were met with stalwart automatic warding magics.

Eight days later, the goddess emerges from her room. And boy howdy she does not look good. Tyzias wears the exact same clothes that she did during the final battle, bloodied and torn and rumpled and dirty. Her eyepatch is only half-on, revealing the mess of scar tissue and dark mist seething underneath. She shambles forward with undeniable intent and a blank expression on her face, which is covered with an abomination that's half-five o'clock shadow, half-full beard. Looking at the damn thing is liable to make someone depressed all on its own.

Then Tyzias reaches her destination: a fountain in a secluded courtyard. Carelessly, thoughtlessly, she retrieves one of her numerous blades and dips it in the water. Normally Tyzias is efficient and precise with her movements whenever she has a weapon out, with the sort of caution you'd expect a master of the craft to have. Now it's like she doesn't give a damn whether she hurts herself or anyone else.

She dips it in the water, then begins hacking away at her face. Bit by it. Millimeter by millimeter. The beard slowly begins to disappear.

Sometimes, Tyzias flings the sword away (it inevitably sinks hilt-deep into a wall), and collapses against the fountain, not crying. There's a very distinct lack of crying that's almost unnatural. It's a void where crying should be.

The work takes hours.

Volumetric Shit Compressor (open)
gone bustin' - tyzias

That's what the hastily-scrawled note on Tyzias's front door reads. What it means is anyone's guess, unless said anyone is an expert on Earth pop-culture and is familiar with the undead situation in the caverns.

For several days, Tyzias is a ghostly presence around campus, stalking the hallways at random times, picking at tiny portions of food, and tossing used swords and other weapons away. Then she vanishes again.

Somebody stalking her, or passing by the entrance of the catacombs by chance, may find Tyzias performing a complex key ritual at the barrier to enter—after all, she was the one who designed the current security system.

Then, once inside, she rips and tears. Decayed gore and dried blood and disturbingly solid ectoplasm spatter the cave walls as Tyzias mechanically and recklessly annihilates the undead horde. She gives no thoughts to defense, of dodging, simply taking the attacks as they come and continuing with her assault until everything in the room is double-dead. Tyzias uses every weapon available to here like a club, smashing through her foes with absolutely no technique.

In fact, when you approach her on one of these missions, she just

Reaches out

Clamps her fingers around a zombie's head

And squeezes

Until it bursts like a ripe melon.

This probably isn't healthy.

Rigorous (Self) Critique (Closed to Yuume)
When Yuume finally arrives for her scheduled research session with Tyzias, she's a sight different than the ghost that was flitting around the campus just a day prior. Completely clean-shaven, smiling gently as she sketches some notes, knee jittering up and down... she's possessed by an almost manic energy that's the polar opposite of what she's been like for more than a week now. (Not that Yuume would know that, considering that they met over bulletin a mere day prior.)

Tyzias swivels in her chair and offers a two-fingered salute to Yuume, grinning crookedly. "Yo. Are you Yuume?"

Some Kind of Superstar (Closed to Seto)
A Duel Monsters card flies at Seto seemingly out of nowhere, with unerring aim and accuracy.

Tyzias emerges from the shadows, filled with that same manic energy. "Alright. How 'bout we do it properly this time? I think I owe you that after you helped save everyone's collective ass, mine included, on Christmas Eve." There's a hint of irony in that last phrase that's impossible to decipher the meaning of.

Finger on the Eject Button (Closed to Close Friends and Family (including Sophie))
Tyzias sits atop the clocktower, legs dangling over the abyss as she looks out over the campus with an unreadable expression. In Tyzias's hands is an old and battered textbook, its title barely legible through the wear, tear, stabbings, slashings, burns, and forces that it's been exposed to, even if one can read an alien language such as this. The spiked gavel on the cover, stained as it is, reveals its purpose: a receptacle of law. Wind skims the voids keeping classmates apart, as if grazing the hollow of a cut reed. A familiar note is produced: it's the one Desolation plays to keep its instrument in tune.

It is a day like any other in Tyzias's life, except something is missing now, and has been for weeks. Her hope, her dream, the one thing that kept her going this past sweep, is extinguished like a candle in the face of a wrathful gale. Her present conundrum is only the latest the latest sleight of hand in the repertoire of an unseen riddler, one to engender a sense not of mirth, but of lack. Their coarse schemes are those less of a prankster than a common pickpocket. Their riddle is Absence itself. It is a mystery dispersing altogether, like the moon's faint reflection, with even one pebble of inquiry dropped in its black well. It is the most diabolical riddle of all.

"Absence diminishes little passions and increases great ones, as wind extinguishes candles and fans a fire."

Tyzias needs help. But who will be the one to give it?

Comments

[blue_ice]

Seto, who knows a thing or two about throwing cards like weapons, makes a valiant grab---but his fingers aren't quite quick enough when he's startled, and it smacks against his chest. He blinks and looks down at it.

And who does he see when he looks up, but Tyzias, seemingly back to...normal? Whatever the baseline for normal is there. He's not quite sure. But he takes the card between his fingers.

"I did what anyone with a self-preservation instinct would do," he answered, deflecting out of habit. Compassion was gross, after all. "But if you're serious...fine, I can work you into my busy schedule. Just give me a few minutes to learn the new rules."

He laughs. It seems his attitude toward her has noticeably improved, despite the comment about the experience not meaning much.

[tiredcharmer]

Tyzias laughs with Kaiba, but there's something hollow in it. It's almost imperceptible to somebody as socially inept and new at this "empathy" thing as him, but it's there.

Probably nothing to worry about, though.

(Probably.)

Tyzias explains the rules with clarity and brevity, entirely unlike her usual ramblings and tangents. At the end of it, she snaps her fingers, realizing something. "Right. Hey, dragon boy. Do you want to do this the classic way," she snaps her fingers, and two motorcycles appear next to her, "or the hardcore way?"

[blue_ice]

"...you play while driving?"

Yeah, he's just going to stare. Because with some of the idiotic duelists he's known, that sure sounds like a recipe for an accident.

[tiredcharmer]

Tyzias leans on hers, a rough, homemade chopper-style D-wheel that's all iron and edges and blood red. The other is sleek and white, a simple factory model.

"Ish. They have autopilots that take care of most of the driving for you; really it's just another layer of gameplay. Whoever takes the first corner wins, and if you're good enough at driving you can snatch up special cards on the track you're melting to help you."

Eject Button

[aspiringknight]

From behind her, there's the sound of movement, of someone climbing up the tower to where Tyzias is sitting. There's a sound of what sounds like a foot slipping and a tiny eek, a pause, and then the climbing resumes. After a few moments a familiar mop of white hair pokes out over the entrance. Sophie breathes in relief.

"Here you are! I thought it was you I spied sitting all the way up here, Auntie Tyzias." Sophie's been hearing stories about Tyzias ever since they exchanged messages on the network, but the troll herself has been curiously hard for her to find. Of course Sophie came and pounded on the door to her room, called through it, asked to come in, anything she thought she could do. She'd been met with silence and wards. And when she heard Tyzias had finally come out, Sophie couldn't seem to track her down, only hearing stories second-hand of the warpath she was apparently on.

The way the troll is slouched over, and the precarious way in which she's seated gives the young knight apprentice pause. Momentarily she seems unsure as to what to do, after a moment, lips pursed, she reaches a decision.

She can't leave Tyzias alone. And so, she pulls herself up fully and approaches the troll. She points to a spot on the edge of the tower next to her. "Hey, you mind if I join you for a bit?" She asks. "It's been ages since we hung out last. I've been missing it."

this tag is so short i'm sorry

[tiredcharmer]

"Hey, kiddo." Tyzias's voice is... not tired, or broken exactly. It feels like it should be those things, but there's just nothing there instead.

...

She pats the ledge next to her,s till not looking at Sophie.

[aspiringknight]

Sophie pauses, momentarily unsure. Not that she doesn't want to help Tyzias with whatever demons she's grappling with but her own, actual ability to help and not make things worse. Something is deeply wrong here, even Sophie can see that, and she really, truly isn't sure she's equipped to help her honourary aunt deal with it.

But that would be turning away someone in need of help, and that's not what a knight would do. And she is going to be a knight, a darn good one, no matter what some creepy shadow Sophie says.

"One sec." Kneeling down, Sophie quickly undoes the laces of her shoes, and pulls them off. Her socks follow; she always thinks more clearly when her feet are uncovered, after all (thanks, ma) and she's going to need all her brain for this.

Putting her sock-stuffed shoes aside, Sophie carefully lowers herself down onto the ledge next to Tyzias oh boy that's a drop. It didn't look so bad from the ground but—

No, stop it, don't get freaked out, not why you're here. Instead, turning away from the ground a very, very, very...surprisingly very long ways down, she looks over to Tyzias and spies the book she's holding, looking much more worse for the wear. She breaks out into a huge grin.

"Hey, I remember that book!" She leans in to get a better look at it. "You've brought it with you to Windmire a few times." She looks up. "It's a...law textbook, right?"

[tiredcharmer]

Tyzias keeps staring blankly off into the distance, almost oblivious to Sophie's presence—although when she takes off her shoes, something like a smile twitches on Tyzias's face. It's more of a reflex than anything else, though.

"Uh, yeah." Tyzias's fingers drum on the book's cover. "It's from home. It was an honest-to-Sufferer gift from Sore-Gor when I lost mine. I..."

Tyzias trails off, gulping. She's obviously holding back a sob.

[aspiringknight]

"Oh yeah?" Sophie leans in, curious to hear the story. But then Tyzias shudders, holding back a sob, her pain breaking through the facade of...well, nothing that she's been putting up.

Instinctively, Sophie's arm goes around her, without the young girl even thinking about it. "Tyzias, what's wrong?" She asks worriedly. "Talk to me, please. You don't have to face this alone."

[tiredcharmer]

"They're gone. They're... they're all gone, Sophie."

Tyzias leans into the young woman's embrace.

[shadowslipping]

Boy howdy, if she only knew. Yuume gives a small wave with her gloved hand, notebooks and things under the other arm. "That's me, yes. It's good to meet you," she continues, showing no sign of confusion toward Tyzias' appearance despite never seeing her beforehand. As far as Yuume is concerned, there are plenty of intelligent things in the world, and Tyzias is far from the most odd looking of them. "Thank you for meeting with me."

suffer, yuume

[tiredcharmer]

Tyzias stands up- woah she is tall. Looming-over-Yuume tall. Smiling sharply (literally, she has teeth like a dragon), Tyzias extends a hand, cocking her head to the side. While Yuume is this close, she can tell that Tyzias is... quite... muscular, even under her baggy clothing. "S'no problem. Nobody else is willing to ramble about all my research. Now, why don't we get started?"

oh my G OD

[shadowslipping]

Oh. Oh no-

oh no she's hot

It takes half a second to realize there's a hand to shake, which she ultimately takes gladly. A smile is on her face, and she's trying not to think too hard about what the troll might look like under the baggy clothing. "I'm sure they're missing out then- but yes, let's start," she eagerly agrees with a nod.

[tiredcharmer]

Tyzias nods, then sits down, gesturing at a chair across from her for Yuume to sit then. "Aight. Let's jump right in. This," she separates one of the leatherbound journals from the pile, "are my compiled notes on everything I could find about the culture, history, and current society of the Tenfold Kingdoms."

"This," she points to the massive stack of other journals, "is everything along the same lines from all the other worlds I've visited, including a classification system and a unifying theory of universal templating.

"Where do you want to start?"

[shadowslipping]

"That's...an impressive collection," she manages with a somewhat impressed whisper, taking her seat as she does so. Her rat meanwhile, scurries down to sit on the table, listening calmly. "While the journals are without a doubt tempting, perhaps we should get me brought to speed on any basic matters here that I've missed- I'll miss the entire point of them otherwise."

Hey, you, show me that solvable problem...

[princepallidus]

Climbing up the stonework siding of the clocktower would have been much easier if Pallidus wasn't so unfamiliar with heights. At least the brambles he magicked into existence held up, allowing him better grip. He'd also been forced to leave his boots at the bottom of the tower, but needs must.

Clambering over the edge onto the landing, Pallidus straightened his sweater and settled cross-legged next to Tyzias. While he had no pupils to actually show where he was looking, Pallidus made very little attempt to hide his gaze from her profile. It gave him a chance to catch his breath and really look at the differences he couldn't quite see as clearly before during the rush of the battle. The eyepatch. The scars. Before, she had seemed like a mousy nerd, but even with her hunched posture she was too far removed from that image.

She had assured him she had recovered, but like this, she didn't look well.

Fingers and toes shrinking down to normal from the claws he used to help him scale the tower, Pallidus opened and shut his mouth a few times trying to find the right words to say.

Still unsure, he tried for an unrelated topic. "Needed a change of scenery for your studies?"

We can get through it...

[tiredcharmer]

Tyzias reflexively offers Pallidus a hand as he clambers to where she's setting. It's an automatic response, a base instinct to help that's impossible to get rid of. Years of being a Hero enforced it.

But still, Tyzias doesn't look Pallidus in the eye.

As he fumbles his way into a conversation starter, Tyzias's grip on the book tightens. "No. No, that... that isn't it."

I’ll do the hardest part with you

[princepallidus]

She didn’t let him fall. Pallidus couldn’t allow for her to do so either.

Tyzias seemed to grow more tense than before. Hells, he was so bad at this! Whatever this was.

Trying to go about things in roundabout way wasn’t helping. Maybe being straightforward would be better. “Do you wish to talk about what’s bothering you? You seem... troubled.”

[tiredcharmer]

"They're gone, Pallidus."

Tyzias's voice breaks, and she's visibly holding back tears.

"All of them. Just... erased."

[princepallidus]

A soft gasp escaped Pallidus, unable to hold it back in his shock. ”Troubled” didn’t cover it. ”Troubled” didn’t even scratch the surface.

“I... That’s...” but he couldn’t give her empty words right now. That wouldn’t help anything, wouldn’t make it not true.

But was it true?

Swallowing the dryness in his mouth, Pallidus leaned closer, lowering his voice to further soften it. “Tell me, how do you know? What makes you so sure?”

Finger on the Eject Button - a little drama before our comedy

[mithrarin]

Getting up to the clock tower was simple platform physics, easily handled for a Warmblood who'd climbed mountains and caverns. So the sudden landing of Dust next to her ought to be no surprise, nor unexpected, hopefully.

Welcome, well, that might be another matter.

"Hey."

not a gagtag

[tiredcharmer]

"..."

[mithrarin]

Yeah, that's about what he expected.

Dust dropped to a seat next to her, legs sticking out over the edge. A moment of silence passed, before he said, "You know, I just... woke up one day. No memory. No knowledge of who I was. And then this sword floats up and tells me I'm its wielder, that I had things to do."

[tiredcharmer]

Tyzias snorts. "That sounds like the life." There's no hint of irony in her voice.

[mithrarin]

"I had Ahrah with me, and Fidget. Ahrah was.... hiding everything he knew from me, and Fidget had no idea either. Over time, I found out everything, though. How I was created, and why."

Dust lifted one hand, then did something he'd never done in all his time here. He took off his hat, setting it next to him. The breeze up here caught his hair now that it was free, making it drift slightly sideways as his ears twitched slightly.