Osia: The Mists of Truth

[mkayvibe]

[This is a private one x one roleplay for Falcon and Mkvibe. You are more than welcome to read along, but please refrain from posting. Thank you!]

The Story so far

Two young adults—Josiah Parker and Elena Maclaine—from different walks of life are carrying on with their usual lives. Right now they are nothing more than co-workers at Everbrite Inc., a company that produces various mouth care products; their most notable being their toothpaste line. But perhaps, something more awaits them around the corner...

Meanwhile, worlds away great peril is brewing. In the realm of Osia, the land is sick. Different opinions are circling about as to why everything seems to be succumbing to decay, but no definitive answers have come. Some have already made moves towards what they believe will be the solution. These actions will have consequences. What they are, and how deep they will run is left to be seen...

The Characters, navy

Elena "Echo" Maclaine
as played by Mkvibe
♀ | 22 years old
Echo is medium height and average build (though she'd call herself chubby if you asked her). Her complexion is fair, earning her the mocking nickname by some of her co-workers "snow white". She has long bone-straight, auburn hair that she goes through stages of dying her side-swept bangs and the tips various colors—right now they are violet.

Echo is in the Marketing and Design department. She works as an animator/illustrator for the company's commercials.

Echo is a quieter individual and tends to stick to her own circle of friends rather than branch out to new people. Judging by her usual dress, she's very into the indie-pop, art world, and likes bold color. She's somewhat known around the office for being really bad at talking in front of large groups and for tuning the world out while working with her headphones on.



Josiah Parker
as played by Falcon
♂ | 25 years old
Everything about Parker is average. Average height, average looks, average build...except his ears, his ears are a bit on the large side. His curly hair is impossible to do anything with, which is why he never wears hats (they aggravate the problem) and tries to get a regular trim. He does keep a short beard, but that's mostly because if he doesn't Parker can still pass for 18.

A usual outfit for Parker consists of a nice button down shirt tucked into dark wash jeans, and the comfiest pare of black sneakers he's ever owned.

Parker is generally noted to be outgoing and has a confidant personality. Most people in the complex know of his love of SciFi especially Doctor Who, how he build his own computer, and not to get between Parker and his morning coffee. The coffee is the important one.

Parker works in the IT department. If anything electronic goes down Parker can fix it...unless it's actually dead, in which case he always knows the best make and model for a replacement. He also seems to be the only one who can get the conference room projector to sit perfectly straight.

 

[mkayvibe]

The low hum of dozens of computers filtered throughout the Design wing. Echo eyed her screen intently, headphones on, and her hand controlling the mouse methodically. A large image of a smiling woman filled most of her program's window as she adjusted the frame rates on the scene's animation. She sighed and leaned forward, a habit she'd developed when slightly annoyed. Just a few more keystrokes and a little luck...

"Come on..." Echo muttered squinting at her monitor.

Some form of alien pressure appeared on her shoulder making her jerk out of surprise. She whipped her head up and found her supervisor standing behind her with a polite mask on her face. She slipped off her headphones.

"How's it coming?" Her supervisor asked.

"Ah...alright. Should be done soon..."

"Good, good. Well don't forget the deadline is Wednesday next week."

Echo nods. "O-of course." She swallowed.

Her supervisor patted her shoulder then turned to leave towards the next desk, but paused as if remembering something. Echo eyed her somewhat concerned with an expectant expression. "Oh, heh...yeah. I came to tell you it's 3. You're off now."

Echo relaxed and smiled a little. "Right...Well, I'll finish this scene first and head out."

Her supervisor nodded and started down the aisle, "Don't take too long. Time is money."

Echo watched the older woman walk out of ear shot then blew out a long, tense sigh. "Hate it when she hovers like that..." She tried to get back into a focus, however she was too shaken at this point. Eventually, she gave up and shutdown her station and collected her things. Pulling her cross-pack over her shoulder, Echo quietly made her way towards the elevator. She seemed to be debating about something before she pulled out her phone and plugging in her headphones. Her hand tapped the down button while the other scrolled through her music library.

 

[Falcon]

"Seriously, next time you think your computer needs an update call one of us," Josiah Parker scolded as he scrolled through the system menu of one of the research department's terminals. "Just because your internet browser pops up an update doesn't mean you need to listen. In fact . . . what're you using any way . . . explorer? Ah . . . hang on, let me switch you over to something better . . ."

With the stroke of a few keys he had the new browser installed, re-enabled the pop up blocker, and had deleted all the excess files the young college work-study intern had installed. "Actually while I'm at it . . ." A few more key strokes and he had the system set to scan.

"H - hey!" the kid complained and Parker only raised an eye brow at him. "I won't be able to do anything until that finishes!"

"Well, the day technically ended fifteen minutes ago. Go home. And don't touch anything on this machine until I've had a chance to go over the scan results.

A moment later Parker had packed up his messenger bag, snagged his travel mug from the desk, and made his way to the elevator. When the door open he found Echo inside, not that he knew her well, but it was nice to know he wasn't the only one who'd ended up working late that night. Though Parker figured that in Echo's case it wasn't because she'd been fixing other people's mistakes.

He offered her a smile as he stepped in, but seeing that the button for the ground floor had already been pressed, and not really expecting her to strike up a conversation while her head phones were on, he leaned casualty against the back wall with his hands shoved in his pockets and whistled a light tune.

 

[mkayvibe]

Echo shifted away as Parker boarded the elevator, giving each of them more personal space. She inclined her head as a response to his smile, but immediately went back to scrolling through her music. Anything to make her look busy so that any more interaction would be prevented. Given what she had seen of Parker, he was a nice guy. But it was late and talking was the last thing she wanted to do.

Then he started whistling. Looking away at the elevator wall, Echo sneered with irriation. This was quickly masked by feigned neutrality and her turning up her headphones a little.

Down they rode until they reached the ground floor. The doors slid open revealing the night-duty janitor with his cart of cleaning supplies.

"Evening folks." He greeted them adjusting his cap. "Can you hold the doors for me?"

"Ah! Ye-sure." Echo stammered and thrust her thumb at the button. She turned off her music and slipped off her headphones with her free hand. The janitor nodded with a smile as he pushed his cart inside. Echo waited until he was situated, letting him take over holding the door control. She quickly stepped toward the open threshold.

The next thing she knew was the feeling of being thrown back and the dull ache of slamming into the cart take over her body.

"Whaaaa...?" She gasped. Looking in front of them to the opening between the doors, it looked as though there was some kind of film over it; like the plastic seal on a TV dinner.

"My! What did you trip on, miss? You alright?" The janitor questioned, quickly coming to her side and helping her up. "I...don't..." She started rather alarmed. She looked between them both unconsciously pointing at the weird film blocking them in.

 

[Falcon]

"Hey, Bill," Parker greeted that janitor as he moved to one side to allow the man in, "how's your boy doing?" But before the Man could answer Echo had tried to walk through the door and been thrown back.

"What the . . ." Parker gasped. He should have been checking on Echo. Part of his brain nudged him to do it, but his eyes were fixed on the door and the film that covered it. "I have never seen anything like this," he whispered eyes wide as he edged around the cart to get closer to the door. "I don't suppose anyone hears the Tardis?"

Perhaps the joke was out of place, but Parker was too absorbed by the phenomenon to notice. He took a ball point pen from his bag and tapped it against the surface, craning his head to see all the angles. The tip of the pin struck, and the barrier seemed to ripple, but that was all.
"No electric charge," he murmured, "that's a good sign. And I'm not seeing anything in the door itself which means that whatever this is is being created by some outside force." His attention shifted to Bill. "If you hadn't just entered I'd say someone had wrapped the ground floor exit with something as a practical joke."

Suddenly the lights behind the button panel when out and Parker jumped. "And there goes the option of returning to a higher floor and taking the stairs, " he sighed.

Cautiously Parker lifted a hand and let his first two figures touch the surface of whatever it was that had thrown Echo back. It was a risk, he had no idea what it was or if it would harm him, but they had to know if they could get through.

 

[mkayvibe]

Echo, with Bill's assistance, got back on to her feet. The janitor looked between the two young adults with confusion.

"Now, I enjoy a good laugh well enough. But it's a bit late for any prank'n or that flash mob whatever." He stated, a hint of worry on his voice.

When neither of them answered, Bill fell into an awkward and dumbfounded silence. He watched them at first, then went to straightening the supplies on his cart passively awaiting some sort of explanation. Though, this made him somewhat easy to forget at that moment.

He and Echo both eyed the control panel. Bill's confusion only deepened. Echo swallowed down her nerves. She adjusted her pack and tried to think of what to say or do. Her attention returned to Parker as he was tracing the film with his fingers. For a moment, she let herself become rather transfixed by the ripple patterns his motions sent out and was half-way tempted to try herself. Though, the dull ache from being thrown hadn't left her yet and kept her hands by her sides.

"What do..." Echo paused to clear her throat, "what do you think it is?" She spoke low.

Her face started to soften with curiosity and she stepped one step closer to Parker. A sharp frigid pinch grabbed at the back of Echo's neck. She gasped and flinched as her hand shot up to nurse the skin. Soon enough there was another one, this time on her thigh...then another and another.

"What's going on!" She demanded, her voice shrill with fright. In her panic she moved and something strange caught her eye. Looking again, Echo saw something she'd describe like snow that glowed floating upward. She quickly looked for its origin and was shocked (though maybe not so shocked at this point) to find it had risen from her hand. More little snowflakes of light slowly ascended from her hands and elsewhere. Echo looked to Parker, and found that he too had the same thing happening to him.

 

[Falcon]

"A barrier of some sort." Parker answered pressing his finger further against the film and finding it had a little give but would not let his hand through, "meant to keep us here."

It was then the pinching began. He jerked in reaction to the first and swatted at the second. "What is your pro--" be when he turned to get away from the third he saw with a shock that no one was near him. More than that he saw the snow, or the lights. Whatever it was.

The "snow" had a faint glow to it, and defying all laws of gravity was falling up. "What the--" he gasped, but at the same time the pinching continued. Growing increasingly stronger it suddenly felt like someone had grabbed the scruff of his neck and yanked him backward. Only it wasn't backward, it was inward. Into himself. Like he was being crumpled and folded into the smallest version of Parker imaginable until he became one of those false, glowing, gravity defying snow flakes.

He tried to scream, yell, anything only his vocal chords suddenly didn't work. He tried to look towards Echo and Bill to see what was happening to them, but his vision was growing blurry. There was a loud ringing in his ears that obstructed all sound from reaching them, and Parker found he was afraid, very afraid.

He was vaguely aware of a faint sound beyond the ringing, like that of a soap bubble popping, before he lost consciousness.

 

[mkayvibe]

Echo's mind was whirling. As the "snow" continued, the air from her lungs left her and the sight from her eyes went dark. She had the same crushing sensations and ringing in her ears and did everything she could to fight against it all. With what little sense she had left, it felt for all the world as if she were falling inside herself all the way through the ground.

Bill watched on in terrified confusion. He watched the two young adults seem to flail and fall to the elevator floor. He flinched as they disappeared in a blink and a headache-inducing crack.

* * *​

The next thing Echo felt was warm hands pushing her back down. Her head was spinning, and everything was blurs of firelight. Her throat was raspy before she realized that she was screaming. Why couldn't she hear it? A hand wrapped around her mouth and the other pushed her back down gently. As she started to comply, something popped in her ears. Sound came flooding back in. Whoever was above her was frantically trying to shush her.

"Shhh! Quiet! They'll hear you!" A voice called in a raspy whisper.

Echo obeyed, blinking her eyes until the blur was cleared. It was a young man with dark, disheveled hair and big circular glasses across his face hovering above her. He looked rather frantic, but a fire of determination shone in his eyes. Slowly, as she looked about the room she was in, Echo's other senses started to return to normal. Prickling sensations—the sort one gets when something is regaining feeling after being numb—coursed all over her skin. The creaks and thuds of heavy foot steps filled the room from above.

The room was made of stone and plaster. The low-hung ceiling was made of long planks of wood. Little bits of dust fell with each step from the floor above. There were no windows, but there was a small fireplace with a slowly smoldering fire still burning. Echo was on what felt like big burlap bags filled with something...maybe flour? The Harry Potter look-a-like got up slowly, his eyes transfixed on the ceiling. Echo turned her head to see more of the room.

Parker was laying on a row of burlap sacks next to the fire. Echo guessed he was still unconscious. She started to slowly get back up, but the young man held up his hand. Echo stopped and looked up as a few more footsteps sounded. The steps got closer, a loud groan sounding from the planks overhead. The young man tensed and Echo held her breath. Everything went still for a while. They waited for whoever it was to leave. It took what felt like hours, but a yell from further down drew the mystery person's attention.

The young man sighed. Turning back to Echo he looked at her with sympathy and...was that guilt? "I'm sure you have lots of questions. But here and now is not good."

Echo eyed him with suspicion. "Who are you?" She asked quietly.

"My name is Thaleaus."

 

[Falcon]

It felt as though someone was poking thousands of tiny needles into Parker's skin as he regained consciousness and opened his eyes. As awareness flooded back to him he suddenly knew one thing for certain. This wasn't the elevator anymore.

Somebody was screaming, the sound distant and muddled but gradually growing louder as his ears cleared. He was relieved to find it wasn't him. In fact Parker's vocal chords seemed not to want to work at all. He lay there in silence staring at the plaster ceiling as he heard the screaming voice hushed and the sound of footsteps echoed overhead. He let his senses clear; let his brain process that he had somehow ended up someplace entirely different from where he had started through no choice of his own. Panicking would do him no good he told himself as he fought down the urge. He needed to get a grip and figure out what was going on.

He barely managed a groan as he rolled over to find Echo nearby and registered that it was her voice he had been hearing. That there was another young man sitting next to her that looked remarkably like that wizard boy in the movies, but Parker couldn't place him. Was he even supposed to know him? It was then he realized there was one person he had been expecting to see who wasn't there.

"Where's Bill?" he choked out in a low hoarse voice and tried but failed to push himself to his feet. "And where are we?"

 

[mkayvibe]

Thaleaus looked over at Parker, getting up at his weak attempts to get up. "Just relax. I can answer your questions later. Right now, we need to get you both on your feet so we can move."

"Bill...The janitor...the elevator!" Echo started muttering to herself, but increased in volume as recollection and fear jolted her foggy brain. Thaleaus tensed and shushed her again. Though she quieted outwardly, her mind was screaming in alarm. Where were they, indeed! And what was going on! Each shaky breath brought more clarity to Echo's mind. She stood up, meeting the sudden weakness in her legs and body with surprise and stubborn determination. Seeing Parker close by, but unable to get up himself, gave her the focus she needed to keep her knees from buckling.

"Don't--well, huh...Just be careful. Such magics wind even the mightiest of warriors. I uh, I'll get some tea." Thaleaus said and gently slipped up off Echo's make-shift bed. He disappeared to the far corner of the room.

Echo pushed herself toward Parker, her feet scuffing across the stone floor. It took almost more than she had to give to reach her co-worker's side. She let herself drop to her knees--perhaps a tad rougher than intended--and took his hand. She wasn't a very touchy-feely sort usually, but right now she needed something that felt real.

"H-hey...Are you okay? I don't think Bill came with us...to wherever this is." Echo said. Her face was tight was concern.

 

[Falcon]

"I'll be fine once the room stops spinning," Parker answered Echo, feeling her smaller hand slip into his. His long fingers curled around her palm and squeezed gently, feeling solid flesh against his own and confirming for him that he was not, in fact, dreaming. "And I'm glad Bill's not with us. If whatever that was always feels this way, I'd be afraid for his health. Hell, I'm afraid for my own health."

Parker knew something weird was going on. If the strange location and his lack of memory on getting there wasn't a dead give away, the young man called Thaleaus's odd behavior was more than enough of a clue. The guy seemed strangely concerned that they would be found. The quiet way he moved, they way he insisted they keep their voices low, it all screamed of some unknown danger. Not that Parker was well versed in danger, but he had seem more than his fair share of movies and TV shows that dealt with odd scenarios though he was certainly aware that Hollywood was not necessarily true to life.

"Can you at least tell us who we're hiding from?" Parker asked Thaleaus, keeping his voice low in hopes that A it would keep them from being overheard by who ever was making the other man nervous, and B doing so would show that he was at least listening to and cooperating with Thaleaus's wish for discretion.

Parker shifted slightly and managed to get his knees under him. The sooner he could get to his feet the sooner they could all get out of there and start getting answers. He might at least start trying one little bit at a time. "Maybe if we lean against each other . . ." he told Echo. "I think I could move if I have something to brace against.