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WHO: Fuu Hououji...? and YOU
WHERE: Heropa and Around
WHEN: Feburary 12th to probably the end of the Heartless event
WHAT: Nobody's in here, nobody's tricked me!
WARNINGS: None.

Fuu was on her way home through the park when she heard a rustling and felt Windam. He had been restive ever since they had been separated by the City, and now he didn't wait for her opinion before he emerged in a gout of brilliant green light--but lightspeed wasn't quite fast enough to avoid the claws of darkness. They pierced his heart and Fuu's at the same time. Fuu tried to gasp through the ice that seemed to pierce her chest straight through, but she had no breath to gasp with, no pulse to quicken, no--

--she blinked up at the sky. There was something soft at her back; tilting her head up, she saw the downy breast and distant beak of an enormous white bird, sitting on the soccer field, while two dark shapes scurried away. The girl watched them go without emotion. It was warm and sunny, but then the phone in her pocket buzzed. A reminder to buy flowers for Valentine's? With a heart emoji. The girl touched her fingers to her neck. No pulse.

Fuu's Phone. She wasn't Fuu. Fuu... Wind. Air. Invisible though it was, it had substance. She had none. Nor did the bleached version of Windam that shut its eyes in the sunshine. A strange glove lay on the ground beside her; she slipped it on and stood. The dark creatures were dangerous, and she saw no reason to confront them. She didn't know what was important or what she ought to do, but she decided to try retracing her steps. Maybe she would figure out what was important that way.

[ooc: Will match brackets or prose!

Feel free to run into ~~Fuu~~ anywhere around the Porter cities / her house / etcetera. Or you can try to talk to Nobody!Windam in Heropa, not that he wants to do anything but bask.]

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Fuuuuuuuuuuu-!

[Cecelia makes her presence known from afar, bustling along with an armful of books, hair in a frazzled knot of a bun, looking like she's just endured hours of jury duty or something equally draining.

jury duty might be easier to endure than being harangued by shadow-things that seem delighted to haunt her steps! thank gods they're not immune to electric shock, or she'd be the head of a very odd parade right now.

she slows as she approaches, doing a double-take to see Windam just out like that, but deciding to just. roll with it. it's fine. Fuu would laugh if she decided to be apprehensive about it now.]

Gawds Fuu, are you seriously just going to lay around? Are those things not bugging you at all? I can't walk a block without getting harassed!

[It's the volume and the tone that spark recognition before the actual pitch of the voice. Cecelia. She's feeling as many emotions as ever.

But she's addressing Fuu, and she isn't Fuu, not anymore--if she ever was? It's a bit confusing.]

The monsters? [Yes, there are still a few around. The non-Fuu takes a step forward.] No. I don't think they would be interested in me.

[scoffing:] Probably because you could out-logic them with a few polite questions that make them wonder what they're even up to, right. Yeah, no, I don't think that's gonna work this time? I don't think they even have mouths.

[she squints at Fuu, then at Windam, still just...chillin out here. in the open. in the very-easily-photographed open.]

...What are you doing out here, anyway? Why's your familiar about? I thought that was only for signs of danger or...?

[She considers that.]

I didn't mean my rhetorical skills. They've already attacked us.

[This isn't the affected, cheerful nonchalance that Fuu would normally use to describe some kind of dangerous event. She sounds as emotionally invested in it as she does about having run out of milk.]

I'm not sure why Windam hasn't gone back to his pocket dimension. [She looks up at him. Inasmuch as he indicates any feeling, it looks like he's soaking in the sun's rays.] He isn't talkative.

Wait, waitwhat? [she cuts into the tail end of Fuu's remarks on Windam, gawking, blinking, then scowling.] Oh. Wait. Wait, don't tell me that awful Outsider-guy is back at it, granting you boons of power to blow things up? Gawds I thought we were done with that guy!

No, it wasn't Outsider.

[there's something... there... wasn't there? she knows that the Outsider isn't here anymore. and she knows that he saved her and cecelia from death by gibberer.]

He isn't even here anymore and you're still agitated about him.

[please explain this, cecelia, she doesn't get it.]

[she makes a face.

defensively:] Well, why wouldn't I be, considering how shady a character he is! Was? Is. Gods only know what he's up to now -- you don't even know if he's for sure gone, since he does that weird, like...pocket dimension thing, okay?

That seems unlikely. But since the Sisters left it's hard to say. Maybe he can evade the Porter.

[after all, she... well, she did hope?

she tilts her head from side to side a little, examining Cecelia's facial expression. it's so animated. her voice is so active--so much pitch and tone and meaning packed into her words. it's familiar, of course. they live together and have done a lot of things together. but now it seems there's a huge gulf between them, and she doesn't understand.

well, she used to provoke cecelia on purpose. maybe doing that will help.]

Outsider gave me the power to summon rats. Should I try now?

Omigawdsno! [provoke successful! she scowls, folding her arms tightly to herself.] It's not even a clever application of such a foul power, is it? Honestly, Fuu, if you're going to conjure up nonsense, put a bit of heart into it!

[HURR HURR]

[...hm. she ought to be feeling something from that--her face should be moving, restraining a smile. but her expression feels completely flat. so much that she actually pats lightly at her cheek, but there really is nothing happening.

heart, though... that is where she felt the wound. even though there isn't any blood. she touches her fingers to her wrist, and then her neck. nope. nothing.]

I don't think I have any heart right now.

Huh?

[Cecelia squints, watching this curious act.

is it an act?

her ear twitches.]

Uh, wait, what? What do you mean?

[She notes the ear-twitch, an interesting reaction. It doesn't look like she's quite being believed, but it is a fairly outlandish thing to say.]

I don't have a pulse. [...] That is where I felt the monster strike. But it doesn't make sense to have no pulse and still be alive. That's not physiologically possible.

Ec...scuse me? [she squints, then holds up her hand.] Wait. Waaaitwaitwaitwait, sorry, shut up for a second? Like, stop talking for a second.

[she hesitates, then leans forward a little, head tilted, listening. past the rustle of grass and dried leaves, the movement of vehicles, nearby pedestrian footsteps and bag rustling, she should hear...]

Oh, gods. [she recoils a bit, starting to grow genuinely troubled.] Omigawds, Fuu, did you tick off a necromancer?! Did you die and get raised?

Ah...

[She's about to say that no, neither of things happened. But if she was struck in the heart, shouldn't she be dead? That would make a lot more sense than her walking around and talking like this.

Also, Cecelia's hearing is good enough to detect other people's heartbeats? That's a noteworthy fact.]

I suppose those monsters could have come from a necromancer, although I'm not aware of any living here. But I don't feel like I actually died... I did fall over. Does that count?

Whoa, wait--wait, you said those...the shadow things did this? [now she's got goosepimples; how many times have those beasties almost nicked her alone?!] Omigawds. Why is nobody freaking out over this?!

[She shuts her eyes. Yes, under normal circumstances she would definitely be doing that. Not so openly, but she'd be searching for something, anything that seemed rational and real and cling onto that.

But there's nothing. She knows that she's been changed and that it's wrong and that the situation is dangerous, but there is nothing to go with the knowledge.]

I can't. [...] But you seem to be doing a good job of it.

Because it's weird? Like, really weird! [she's a mix of disgust and fear, daring to poke at Fuu's arm in such a way as if to expect an explosion or spore.] You don't hear any, like, wicked demonic voices in your head right now, do you? Telling you to do some evil bidding?

[The poke to the arm does provoke physical sensation, and she moves it away a little in response.]

The only voices I hear are yours and mine. [...] It is odd that Windam has nothing to say, though. So that is very weird.

I just--can't seem to freak out.

You can't tell me you're okay with this, Fuu! Like! Seriously? [this is hard to wrap her head around. if she's a zombie, she's not zombie enough, but if she's fine, she's also definitely not fine enough.]

So, like...what are you going to do, then? Besides not freak out. Huh?

[Okay... not okay. These are words with inflections attached to them which she technically understands. If she's one or the other, then she would be not okay? This is far removed from her usual state. Also, one of her organs is missing from her body.]

You don't seem to understand... I'm not okay, and I'm not not-okay. Those don't.... [she tries to shape words around it.] That doesn't exist for me.

What do you think I should do? I've met a doppleganger of myself, but I've never--changed from myself this way.

How would I know?! I don't know any necromancers or, or whatever it is that can fix this! [she huffs, uneasy and exasperated. she starts to walk away from her, then back, pacing nervously.]

Like. Like, I don't know. Maybe, like...ask network-people? There's got to be some weirdo who knows what's up!

Hm... all right. That seems useful.

[Cecelia, you have so many emotions all the time. It isn't that Fuu is jealous. But she is very aware of how much she can't do it aymore.]

I don't think we need a necromancer. I'm not dead. [She looks a her hand, touching the still veins in her wrist.] But asking for help will probably be useful, since neither of us have encountered this before.

[she wants to make a comment about zombies, but she also hates zombies and doesn't want to think about Fuu being a zombie, so she just...doesn't make a comment about zombies.

she just thinks about it, which is what she didn't want to do in the first place!

ugh.

while rubbing her face:] Y-yeah. Yes. Good idea. Some other people have to be encountering this phenomenon as well, right? These things are rarely so self-contained. [muttering:] To the point where we all may wind up as such...

[ Fuu gets a phone call first, of course. Jaime has no reason to think he has to do anything beyond call her as he's out running errands.

Ring, ring! ]

[ring ring--ring ring--oh. Jaime. She recognizes the name and the picture she's set as his in her contacts. It's kind of a silly facial expression, one of those weird ones that happen between words. It's not provoking any feeling now.

Well, there's one thing to do with a ringing phone.]

Hello, Jaime.

[she wonders if she should have tried to sound pleased or friendly, but it's too late now.]

Hey, Fuu.

[ She sounds different though, doesn't she? Something's subtly off, even if he can't see her face. She sounds forced. His brows furrow. ]

I was just picking up some takeout for dinner and wanted to know if you wanted me to drop some off for you. Is this a bad time or something? What're you up to?

No, it's not a bad time. [...] I don't think it is. I can't tell if it's a bad time or a good time.

[...]

What kind of takeout?

Um... tell you what, I'll surprise you. Better yet, let's do delivery! I'll be there in, like, two minutes. Hang tight, okay?

[ No way is he even going to keep up the pretense of normacly when she's speaking like that. Jaime knows that Fuu is overly formal at times, polite to the extent that people may think she feels less deeply than she truly does, but Jaime knows her better than that. He knows her odd quirk of humour, the friendliness in the politeness, the gentle teasing.

So he's going to get there as soon as possible to see where exactly it went.

Knock knock, Fuu! ]

Oh. All right.

[She just sits and waits at the table, trying to parse he response. He definitely seemed distressed by her answer. She's experienced Jaime being distressed multiple times. But as with everyone else who's had an emotional reaction to this, she just can't seem to manage having one herself.

She feels so... blank. Empty.

When the knock comes, she opens the door and looks at Jaime without expression.]

Hello.

I would smile, but you know me well enough that there's no need to try.

Edited 2020-03-26 04:26 (UTC)

What happened, Fuu? Are you -- I mean, obviously something's wrong, but -- what happened?

[ Jaime reaches out immediately, gripping her by the shoulders as though that's going to do him any good. ]

Khaji, you getting anything?

[She looks at Jaime's hands on her shoulders. Physically, they feel warm. There ought to be something else, though. Jaime is a significant part of her life here. She thinks about him and his well-being a lot. And he's clearly distressed.

...At least his question has a fairly simple answer.]

A shadowy creature attacked Windam and myself. Now we don't have any feelings.

[Khaji will probably notice that she lacks a heartbeat or pulse.]

Oh. [ A beat. ] Okay. So there's a reason for this. There was a creature, and he -- she -- it did something to you, made you into...

[ He frowns down at the ground, still clutching onto Fuu's shoulders. ]

I can work with that. Okay. Yeah, yeah, I can work with that, all I have to do is -- find this thing, and beat the crap out of it, probably. No reason to panic. No reason at all. Okay.

[ Okay, he's panicking a little. ]

Fuu, I need you to tell me everything you remember. Everything you know. And then I'll fix this.

[He's speaking rather rapidly, Shinkuu notes. Not calm, not casual, not at ease as he usually is. Not very good at convincing himself not to panic.

She doesn't know how to make him not panic. There are words she could try. For instance, she could take his instruction tell me everything you know literally and begin by reciting what she learned in first grade. But right now, they are going to be only that words. She can't bring any warmth or sincerity or humor to them.]

All right. I was in the park, and I was ambushed by those shadowy creatures with glowing eyes that have been sighted lately... although, I didn't see it at the time. Windam emerged to protect me.

I think it took both our hearts. He is like me, now.

[ALSO STILL AT THE PARK.]

Do you know how to fix it?

That... that really shouldn't be possible. God, I hate magic. Yes, it's magic. Yes, it's got to be, what else could it be? I -- no, we're not gonna do that, not until we know --

[ He shakes his head. He tries to avoid arguing with Khaji in front of most people, even those who have known about him for a long time, but it's an especially bad idea now. Fuu might not be feeling much of anything at the moment, but he certainly doesn't need to make things worse. ]

I'm gonna go find it, and I'm gonna make it give them back to you. That's how I'm gonna fix it.

[He's not talking to himself, she knows that. It makes her wonder just what Khaji is suggesting. Probably something dangerous and potentially surgical for Jaime to shut it down like that.]

I guess that might work, if our hearts are still intact enough to retrieve. [that's not reassuring but well... she's not sure if the monster exactly stole them, or if it consumed them somehow.] But it might do the same thing to you that it did to us.

[...]

That would not be good.

They are. And will be, [ Jaime says firmly, because quite frankly, he doesn't intend to entertain any other possibility. ]

Don't worry about me, Fuu. I'll be fine. Let's worry about getting those back and getting to the bottom of this. Wait here, okay? I'll be back soon.

[ He doesn't trust Fuu without a heart to possess anything in the way of survival skills or instincts, from the way she's talking.

No, better to do this himself. ]

[...]

[wait, no, she shouldn't just sit here. she stands up.]

If you restore my feelings, but get hurt in the process, I would be very distressed. [...] I'll probably be very distressed anyway. So I should help you.

[she's not so sure where his confidence comes from, but she does recognize his patterns of behavior. maybe he's trying to convince himself more than her. maybe he'll take unnecessary risks. the emotional fallout of that afterward would probably be... a lot.]

Can't be distressed without feelings. So if I get hurt and don't succeed, you'll still be operating on an even playing field.

[ She shouldn't come with him. Not like this, when he can't see her as having anything in the way of self-preservation. ]

I'm good for it. I've taken on bigger and badder.

But if you get hurt and don't succeed, then you'll likely be like me.

[However, she does know Jaime's personality. He may be easygoing about most things, but the safety of people he cares about has never fallen into that category. Even when he was locked in a cage as a prisoner on the moon, he had told her to get away from there, to keep from danger.

...And she remembers, also, that she had agreed. That she'd left him there. Because, rationally, there was nothing at that time she could do that could help him. She can't connect to what she felt then, but that doesn't matter. The fact of the matter was: she had agreed, and left to seek another method.]

You need to know exactly what it is you'll be fighting. At least don't leave until I explain.

I will be. But I've got someone else backpacking, and he doesn't have to worry about something taking away his emotions. He doesn't work the same way as us.

[ Some would argue Khaji doesn't have a soul. Jaime would obviously contest that point, but perhaps his soul is simply made up of something different, untouchable to those who would normally prey on emotions. Maybe it's because Khaji started off life without them.

Even without them, he'd know what to do to bring them back. ]

But... okay. You can tell me. And then I'll get going.

[Ah, he's agreed. She's not relieved, being incapable of such a feeling. But there is something of... satisfaction, perhaps, that she's succeeded in her goal.]

All right.

They are small creatures about a meter high. They are... somewhat humanoid, all black, except for yellow eyes. Some of them have horns. And they attack directly for the heart. [She lays her fingers lightly on her sternum to emphasize.] You should probably don your armor before engaging them. I believe they succeeded in rendering myself and Windam heartless because he was in the midst of calling me to safety when they struck.

There are many of them. So take care not be swarmed.

She may see no reason to confront the dark creatures, but she isn't the only one around. What is it, Wolfwood wonders, that keeps weird creatures turning up at the park first? Do they just like the open space?

Thump. The Punisher lands on the one that had been running up to him, trapping it in place. After a moment of consideration, Wolfwood takes out his pistol and shoots the thing in what appears to be its head. When you have no idea what the thing you're dealing with is, best to take every precaution.

Glancing around to figure where the other one went, he finally spots Fuu. "Curly? You alright?"

Curly? That wasn't her name. Although at the moment she wasn't really sure who she was, only that it no longer felt like Fuu Hououji. So Curly would do for now. She watched as Wolfwood shot the dark creature in the head. That seemed to disable it neatly.

She considered his question. She didn't feel any pain. But she wasn't nervous, or surprised to see him, or... anything at all. Just a short while ago she had been thinking and planning and considering things. Now, none of it seemed important.

"I... don't know," she said finally, after considering the question from all the angles. "But I don't seem to have any physical injury."

That's...odd. Fuu is always calm, sometimes calmer than she probably should be, but she's more alert than this. Did something happen to shock her?

Probably best to get her home. If she stays out here like this, she might actually get a physical injury.

"You're heading home, right? Let's get back."

She actually hadn't been planning to head home. But she hadn't been planning on doing anything else, either.

"All right." She looked at the fading wisps of the creature that Wolfwood had just dispatched. "But aren't you busy fighting these things?"

“It wasn’t actually in my plans for today.” He’s just not going to leave them there to attack people, either.

He swings the Punisher up to rest on his back. “We should get out of her before more turn up.”

"Oh. What were your plans for the day?"

She wasn't sure why she had asked that question. There was something there, a feeling of habit, that she would ask a question like that. But there was clearly something missing. It should have had inflection. A facial expression to go along with it, to give it jest.

Somehow she'd skipped over that.

She waited patiently for Wolfwood to lead the way. Not that she didn't know the way back home, of course. But she didn't feel all that motivated one way or the other.

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