paixaorpg | Why Insomnia Doesn't Pay [Complete]

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Why Insomnia Doesn't Pay [Complete]

Character(s): Miranda, Chris Lightfellow, Betelgeuse
Content: In which there is much waiting, worrying, introductions and... haunting.
Setting: Muspelheim Gate
Time: Mid-noonish
Warnings: BEWARE OF GHOST.

You mentioned being near the Muspelheim gate. That is close to where I am staying. Would you like me to bring you here until your friends arrive?

Miranda took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down and think rationally. Thanks to the message board, she now knew that Allen, Rabi, and Linali were also in this city and had been able to make contact with the first two.

She wasn't insane. This place... Paixao... it wasn't a figment of her imagination derived from insomnia. It really did exist and she had somehow wound up here without really knowing how or why. But it wasn't a dream.

Considering the man who had called himself "Little Red Riding Hood" and that person who had taunted her about the bogeyman, as well as the person who hadn't typed much at all... Paixao being one big hallucination would have made a lot more sense.

"I just have to wait," she mumbled, settling herself on a nearby bench and clutching her journal to her chest. The person who had volunteered to help her out until her friends arrived (if they arrived) had requested that she stay put, so put she'd stay.

If only "staying put" didn't involve wandering minds and private worries that included the location of her friends and of certain creatures that this person with knives had mentioned.

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When was the last time she had gone outside since collapsing?

Well, that wasn't important right now. She needed to find this "Miranda Lotte" as quickly as possible. After preparing herself for the trip, and leaving a written note for Yun, Chris exited the inn and made her way towards the gate.

It was a bit far, but nothing she couldn't already handle. Besides, after remaining in bed for so many days, the exercise would be a welcome change of pace. She just hoped that Miranda wouldn't wander away from their arranged meeting area. While Chris could certainly understand what the woman was going through, there was no doubt that she seemed to be a bit more... anxious, than others.

Well, at least she had the comfort of knowing that her friends where somewhere in the city. Speaking of which, she would have to attempt to make contact with Percival after taking Miranda back to the Morem of Lisboa with her.

What was it about this place that frightened her so much? Of course, there wasn't much that didn't scare Miranda, but this should have been different. After all, this Paixao was a beautiful place with gorgeous architecture...

But everything felt so fake.

Perhaps, once upon a time, she would have been accustomed to that. It was hardly any different from going back to her lonely apartment with lifeless objects scattered in a corner, just begging to be fixed, to be given life again... where the only friend she had was her clock...

But not anymore. Ever since Allen and Linali had stepped into her dreary life, things had brightened. Each exorcist was a vivid splash of color and vivacity, coloring her own dull existence with their smiles and friendship. And now that they'd been separated...

Miranda shivered, setting the journal on her lap and wrapping her arms around herself. Just because the blonde people weren't as lively didn't mean that those who had replied to her terrified message were the same. Not if someone was going out of their way to help her.

Chris continued to walk through the streets, her mind thinking about various things. Nothing that she hadn't already pondered about before, it just helped to keep her from thinking about how much more was left before she would reach the gate.

A black-haired woman, with signs of sleeping difficulties…That was the image she had seen of Miranda during their comment exchange. Given the nature of the people in this city, it wouldn’t take her that long to find someone with those traits.

She continued to walk, until finally arriving at the gate. The knight let out a sigh, recalling the first time she had passed through it. In any case, she looked around for Miranda, and sure enough, was able to spot her fairly quickly. Walking towards the newcomer, Chris greeted her.

“Greetings, Miranda. I hope I didn’t keep you waiting too long.”

At the sound of an unfamiliar voice addressing her by name, Miranda's head shot up. Her first impulse, upon seeing the young woman standing in front of her, was to blurt out apologies for whatever she could have done to the poor stranger, but then she paused and took a closer look.

People who were about to scold her didn't often say "I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long." Then this person had to be...

"... Chris?" She straightened her jacket and rose from the bench, nervously offering her hand as a greeting. "No, you didn't! I'm very sorry to have inconvenienced you like this... the walk must have been far."

Equip with the handy tool known as a journal, he strode through the gate with ease due to the lack of people. And man, what wimps they were! Why, they had run away faster than any of those children he had the pleasure of 'juicing' with the old 'Bloody Mary' trick. Kids would often attempt it, believing they'd see some woman by that name if they lock themselves in their bathroom, turned off all the lights, and repeat the name three to five times. But instead of some woman by the name of 'Mary', when they turned to the mirror they would sometimes find the Bio-Exorcist smiling back at them.

The look on their face was always priceless. A true Kodak moment as they wildly banged on the door, pleading for their friends to let them out. Actually, Betelgeuse kept pictures of those horrified faced in his wallet. They were always good for an old laugh. Great to show off at parties too. -not that he ever had time to show the photo's to anyone at the parties he was invited to.

A pale hand brought itself into his pocket, pulling out what appeared to be a giant roach, very similar to the ones he had unleashed on the crowd not to long ago. Without hesitation, he thoughtlessly took a bite of it's body. He didn't bother to wipe off the pieces of the insect that fell from his lips and onto his coat.

"Hmm..." the ghost said to himself while he looked over the little device in his other hand. It appeared to be some sort of line of communication. People printed things on here, and others could view, reply and... What the hell happened to him?

His brows knitted together in frustration of the sudden distraction, carrying him away from his current research. He had better things to do then worry about such stupid details. Viscously devouring the rest of the roach in his grasp, he attempted to disregard such thoughts. What did it matter where he was, how he got there? He had living to scare, a city to take over and, and... And what was with all these blonde haired FREAKS around him?

Groaning, Betelgeuse allowed himself to collapse onto one of the near benches. He clutched his skull for a moment, then punched it in an attempt to rid of the content inside. What the hell was wrong with him? He never questioned! He just did. It was the Juice way!

Throwing his head down, only for a moment, he sat in silence, his journal now safely resting in his pocket. It was then he slowly brought his head back up, an alarmingly large grin across his lips. Something had caught his eye.

It had dark brown hair, almost touching its shoulders and a pretty black dress...

Jumping to life, the striped suit wearing ghost suddenly appeared on Lightfellow's shoulders. He had mistaken the maiden as a male from behind due to her armor. If he had been known that she were a woman, he surely wouldn't be treating her in such a manner. "Forget about the walk, babes." the Bio-Exorcist replied for Chris, pushing down on the knights head with his hands as he leaned down to flash a crooked smile at Miranda. "It was no problem at all."

[ooc: Ahhh, sorry for all the posts. Four, that's horrible XD]

The surprise Chris felt at someone being as rude as pushing her head down like that was nothing compared to what come over her after laying eyes on the rather discourteous man. Deathly white skin, unruly blonde hair, and nonexistent cleanliness… What on earth was he?

Naturally, shepushed his filthy hands away from her and stepped back.

“H-How dare you!” A visibly angry Chris stated.

His grotesque appearance suggested that he was most definitely not a human, but an undead. At least, it did for Chris. Having already gone through unpleasant experiences with undead beings, she could not help but put herself on the defensive. She kept a hand near Ervich’s handle and stayed close to Miranda…

"E-Eh?!?"

Poor Miranda had to use every ounce of her willpower to hold back a startled scream at the disheveled and dirty man practically leering at her-- and what had he called her? "Babes"? Who was he?

Fighting the urge to duck down behind Chris, the time-reversing exorcist tried to control her trembling long enough to squeak out a question.

"U-um...." Clearly that control wasn't working. "I... m-my name's not 'babes', it's Miranda... w-who are you?"

In retrospect, she really should have expected this. With the luck she had, of course things were never going to go easily for her! And now Chris was unfortunate enough to share her bad luck since she'd met her! Oh, it was all her fault!

Betelgeuse batted his eyelashes at the girl in a feminine manner while puckering his lips as if he were planning to kiss her. But thankfully for Miranda, he had to withdraw from his position in order to get a better view of Chris. Why, by the sounds of it, he sounded like... Oh. Oh wait a minute! He WAS a girl!

Preforming a double take, The Juicer lept off of the woman almost instantly and stepped down onto one knee, kneeling down before the knight. "Ma'am," he began, a hand over his heart before he quickly reached for her hand. "Please accept my deepest apologies."

The ghost sounded sincere. At least as close to sincere as Betelgeuse could before his leach like grasp of the womans hand took a turn for the worst. He started by kissing her hand, polite and proper. Then moving up, continuing to taint her with his poisonous kiss, farther and farther up her arm like a hungry animal. He was out of control, practically sucking her dry before suddenly throwing himself quite literally off of her.

He landed in front of Miranda, quickly springing himself back onto his feet and embracing her. "Don't be shy, just spit it out. -here, I'll do it for you."

Putting his hand over the woman's mouth, the pale skinned man loudly cleared his throat, collecting as much mucus in there as possible and spat it near Lightfellow's feet. His fingers slowly slithered down from her lip after this, long, red, broken, fingernails grazing against her skin before decided to take clutch of her chin. His crooked, yellow teeth flashed Miranda an even large smiled as he forcefully pushed her closer to him.

"Vous odeur aiment beau des fleurs, madam." the ghost spoke, complementing her smell apposed to his own (which was horrible considering he had never bothered to take a bath in his entire life). "I have traveled many cities, but never once have I found myself in front of such a beautiful woman." Leaning in closer, he snorted several times in amusement of his own antics. "-except maybe in Vegas."

Pausing for a moment in thought, his eyes wandered toward the sky before landing back on the exorcist. She wished to know more about him, did she? "Ah! I see what 'cha mean! We outta get to know each other better in order ta get this relationship stable. Don't worry. I'm way ahead of you, babes." With one of his arms already around Miranda, he threw his other over to Chris, pulling her close so he could some what embrace them both.

"We can all head back to my place and get to know each other better as much as you'd like..."

[ooc: What SHOULD Be The French Translation: 'You smell like beautiful flowers, madam.' I probably messed up in there, though XD -oh, and yes, that last remark is sexual.]

To say that Chris was feeling aggravated was only an understatement. Never before had she come across someone with such appalling manners. Taking her arm like that, and doing those things to Miss Miranda. The nerve of him!

Did he not see the discomfort his actions were causing?

Regardless, she was not in the mood for these ridiculous antics, undead stranger or not. What was worse, he was clearly frightening Miranda, who did not need to be going through any of this right now.

The man’s odious behavior could not go unchecked.

Once again, she pushed his foul-smelling arm aside, drew Ervich and raised it at him.

"You will remove yourself from Miss Miranda at once.” She demanded. “Or I will make certain that you never use that arm again.”

Oh, how she wanted to disappear. Or be pulled into the ground by the same force that had tried to capture Linali and had ended up snagging so many of her friends. Maybe if it appeared again, it would pull her back home. Home was safe. Home didn't have odd men hugging her and saying things to her in a foreign language or TOUCHING HER LIPS--

Miranda shut down that train of thought before she began to hyperventilate, too shocked and terrified to even attempt to escape from the vile-smelling man who held her captive. It had been made evident enough from her pale complexion, her trembling lips and her wide eyes that she was far from comfortable-- a fact that Chris had apparently noticed.

... And apparently intended to rectify by slicing off the man's arm.

Nothing good could possibly come of this.

"A-ah, wait!" The words spilled forth before the exorcist could stop them, even as she raised one hand as if to cover her mouth, but stopped it with a great deal of effort and dropped it back to her side.

"I think... there's been a misunderstanding of some sort," Miranda continued, bravely gazing at Betelgeuse first, then at Chris. "I'm sure you would be an interesting person to get to know better, sir... but I'm trying to find my friends and so I'll be staying with Miss Chris until then. Miss Chris, please don't attack him... I-I'm certain I've done something to accidentally... encourage him. It's my fault."

With her lips firmly buttoned shut, she trembled in his hold. She was horrified, perfect. This was far more than he could anticipate on. Sure, he hadn't really been trying to scare her, but to actually do so with so little effort was a real accomplishment. He was at the top of his game here. Or would be, if only Chris would give up such acts of bravery.

Pushing herself out of his hold, she revealed a rather impressive sword and pointed it directly at him. This amused Betelgeuse. Her demands from him to release Miranda forced him raised a brow, his smile stretching further. "Oh, common. Can't you see, we make such an adorable couple."

At this, he stuck his tongue his out and wiggled it numerous times toward the girls cheek. But when she gave verbal protest, the ghost oddly enough stopped. His tongue rolled itself back into his mouth as he looked at her blankly. This appeared to be a reasonable sign that he was listening before he began to rudely snort.

It was obvious, he had no intent of letting her go. Not unless a hot redhead came along, anyway.

"A misunderstanding?" the pale being asked, loosening his hold of the exorcist. "Ah! Of course," he continued, suddenly catching on... to something completely different. "'Chris', here just needs to learn to 'relax'."

Making his approach toward the woman, he practically glided behind her. His discomforting smile hint enough that he was up to no good as he clapped his hands together. "How DO you intend to cut off my arm anyway?" he questioned all to pleased, for when the white haired maiden hadn't been looking he had managed to transform her sword into a giant, rotting fish.

Throwing back his head to laugh wildly at this, he continued on with his antics. She looked as if she could use a hand. So that was exactly what she would get for if the change wasn't enough to scare dear Lightfellow, perhaps the fact that he had now torn off his arm and offered it to her was enough to make her give out a shriek.

"Here, lemme lend you a hand." Betelgeuse said through by far the most vile laugh (though fairly similar to his last). It sounded much like someone gasping out for air, a noose firmly tied around their neck and choking them.

He dangled his amputated limb in front of her face, it's hand waving at her in greetings.

"Always willing to help out a friend. HA HA HA HA HA!"

"H-How did...?!"

An illusion, or some sort of trick? No. It was definitely real. However he had done it, the highly irritating man had just turned Chris’ sword into… a large fish.

“How dare you!” Did his rudeness have no limits? Never before had her weapon been defiled in such a manner. Indeed, this man’s insolence was starting to touch on her last nerve.

She watched, unamused, as he proceeded to further jest with her by using his removed limb. At least that confirmed her suspicions of him being an undead.

“Get your disgusting arm away from me and return my sword back to normal right now!”

Chris could not remember the last time she had gotten so angry.

At least Yun wasn’t there to say any of it…

"............."

Miranda's tongue went numb and her throat went dry and the only miraculous thing about this entire situation was that she hadn't passed out on her feet. After all, she was highly sensitive and easily frightened and some man was dangling his arm around while laughing so gleefully...

Breathe, breathe... you won't be of much help if you faint and leave Miss Chris to deal with him...

Her mind was still trying to reason with her totally petrified body and (in some twisted manner of compromise) her mouth opened again.

"Please stop!!" She pleaded, taking a shaking step forward. "M-Miss Chris was only trying to help me, so please don't tease her!"

Through his sick, ghastly, laughter, it was safe to say that Betelgeuse was enjoying himself regardless of his amputated arm. Seeing the horrified reactions he had caused poor Miranda were treat enough. He just loved this girl. The smell of fear in which she wreaked of (although fear didn't exactly have a smell) was enough to encourage him all the more to continue. Exactly how far could he push this girl before she either passed out or ran away? The excitement was overwhelming for the exorcist looked as if she were on the verge of wetting her pants.

Chris on the other hand, she shared but slightest bit frightened at his handy work. She appeared more aggravated than disturbed, actually. And though he was disappointed, his hideous stained teeth smiled at the woman from the shadows. This egg was a hard one to crack, but he admired that, feeling all the more determined to get this knight screaming till she was blue in the face.

"Whaaaaaaaat?" the ghost questioned through a long whine, backing into view of both girls once again. They both chose to verbally attack him setting him in a some what sticky situation... No, not really, but it was fun to pretend. "I was just tryin' to help."

Attaching his limb once again, he shed not one ounce of blood making the process at least some what more bearable before he forced his bones to 'snap' when finally getting his arm to connect to his shoulder again. From there, he began tapping his chin thoughtfully before he suddenly broke into a smile. An idea bulb had burst.

"Whooa, wait! I got it. -Hold on a sec." sharing with the two an assuring nod, he reached into his striped suit and began to dig around. Numerous bazaar expressions appeared on his face during this process, almost as if he were in some sort of pain... or acting like a complete fool. Whatever it was, it continued until he believed he had found what he had been looking for.

"Ah, ha!" he cried, ripping out what appeared to be a mouse trap which snapped down on his hand. This caused him to curse, waving his hand around angrily. But this did not discourage him, for once the trap flew free from his pale hand, he threw it back in his coat and began pulling out even more fairly random objects; a bear trap, a fish skeleton, a rotting piece of cheese...

Turning to Miranda, he revealed a large, plump rat that squirmed about in his hold along with numerous insects. "Could you hold this?" he asked, not giving the raven haired woman the chance to protest before forcing the grotesque articles into her hands. He then went back into his coat, pulling out an entire ship that looked fairly similar to 'The Titanic'.

"Maybe I'm looking in the coat..." Betelgeuse began. But then his look of doubt instantly changed upon the familiar grasp of something. This caused him to spin around and turn his back on the two girls in order to hide the object(s?) he had pulled in store for them.

"Never mind! I got it! Hang on..." He sounded like he was struggling, fighting with something as his arms wildly moved about. "-Gah, work you stupid piece of- Yup! Your gunna get a real kick outta this! Just a few more twists..."

If these two had any intent of escaping from the ghost, perhaps now would be the best time while his back was turned...

Confused by his recent actions, Chris did not want to stay near him any longer. If the strange objects he had taken out where any suggestion, what he was planning now would not bode well for either of them.

Once his back was turned, Chris approached Miranda and grabbed her by the hand, but not before picking up the fish that had once been her cherished sword.

"Now would be a good time for us to rid ourselves of him." She whispered. "Shall we go?"

"Ah...?" Miranda glanced over at Chris, then uneasily back at Betelgeuse. True, his back was turned and to get away from this nightmarish person would be an immense relief... but wouldn't it also be extremely rude? Could she possibly force herself to leave without him noticing? Surely she ought to at least say good-bye!

But Chris was also uncomfortable with his presence... and by attracting his attention again, Miranda wouldn't be helping her new friend.

"... A-all right," she agreed shakily, squeezing the knight's hand and nodding slowly. "I'll apologize to him later for my behavior..."

[ooc: 'Maybe I'm looking in the *wrong* coat...' Ugh, hate when I make typo's -_-]

The ghost's fight went on for several minutes involving much grunting and swearing. But even with the struggle he inflicted upon himself, he remain confident that this would be just the thing Chris needed. Striking her last nerve was something he was more than joyed to have the honor of doing. He knew he would crack her eventually, wither it was driving her mad or scaring her quite literally to death. He just couldn't wait to see the look on her face when she saw this.

"Almost done." Betelgeuse said over his shoulder, tearing his eyes away from his project for only a moment to check on the two girls. Only problem was, there were no girls. He stopped his work immediately, turning his head all the more to take a second glance around the area. The balloon sword he had been slaving on in order to reach perfection screamed as air escaped from it's yet to be tied ends.

"Wha-whoa! Hey! Where'd yeah go?" he asked, stumbling back a few steps in surprise. They had simply left him there by himself, as if they had simply disappeared off the face of the planet. And not even a kiss, note, wave 'goodbye'. Not a single hint of their journey made AWAY from him while he had his back turned. In fact, they had probably been waiting for him to do that, scheming behind his back...

This defiantly did not suit his fancy.

"Those little brats!" the balloon his his grasp suddenly popped from the pressure he had forced against it in his clutches. "NOBODY DITCHES, BETEL-" The ghost paused, regaining control of himself for an instant knowing full well to say his name would result in the knowledge of others saying it, regardless of the lack of people in the current facilities. He couldn't risk one of the mindless blonde's overhearing. "... I mean, ME! Why, the nerve of those kids..."

His long, red, nails grazed against one another as he snapped his fingers together sharply. This action miraculously caused all the items he had removed from his jacket to vanish out of thin air and return back into the place in which they had came from.

He would have loved running after the two girls, creeping up on them and surprising them. But why bother? He had far more important things to attend to. Although, if he ever DID run into one of the pair again he would defiantly give them a reunion they would not forget. Besides, in the end, Chris and Miranda weren't that good looking. -that tight leather was hot though.

The ghost adjusted his striped suit, then spun on his heel before walking away from the abandoned scene. Laughter slowly began to develop at this, his wicked cries echoing from a distance as he lept up, clicking his heels together.

It took a lot more than two women with commitment issues to get him down.

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Why Insomnia Doesn't Pay [Complete]

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