-- I am you, you are me --

[relinquishing]

Who: Guy, Ghirahim, Link, Duke, later Zelda and even later Dhaos and Zelos.
(Or: Zelda, Link, Dhaos, Zelos, Guy, Ghirahim, Duke. Take your pick; both are sadly correct.)
Where: Ordo 3
When: Early morning >>> afternoon of the 16th
What: Insanity.
Style: Let's just say [Action] for right now.
Status: Closed

[Is there anything up in the Ordo neighborhood? No. No, not particularly.

That's what's a bit odd. Normally, a certain princess would already be awake and about. It's plenty past 6.

How odd. It seems the rest of the housemates aren't quite... themselves, either. Whether they've noticed or not, though, is a different story entirely. Maybe it's just a sleepy day.

Well.

When it hits about 7, they'll surely find out. Because their new wake up call is a short but very strong, very piercing shriek from said princess' bedroom.

Rise and shine, boys.]


[[ooc: This is a catch-all for the events of the first morning of the curse in the apartment. The main thread will follow from the beginnings of the morning until Guy!Zelda and Zelda!Guy leave. Smaller conversations or SFC communication to people in the apartment (or, well, people that SHOULD be in the apartment) can happen outside this main thread - just specify in the subject thread so we don't lose track!]]

Comments

MAIN THREAD

[relinquishing]

[Starting with the apartment mates!]

[trepidity]

[Waking up in the Ordo apartment wasn't something that was necessarily new for Guy. It had happened once before, when he's fallen into a coma. Geez..... had that happened again?

But something didn't feel right.

And as soon as he props himself onto his elbows.... as soon as he sees the hair draping over his.... her bare shoulders, sees even the slightest hint of a curve that definitely WASN'T there before...

He wasn't quite sure when he screamed. He barely remembers it - his mind is too busy screaming, letting impulse work over anything else, scrambling backwards in the covers of his... of Zelda's bed. He can feel the blood rushing from his face, breath catching every time he even looks down at his hands...

He is in a woman's body...

He's IN a WOMAN'S body...

God, he would probably scream again if he wasn't so absolutely horrified.]

Dragging Guy off to calm down

[breaksthefontech]

[After dealing with the utter chaos that had been occurring in her room, Zelda finally decided to take Guy away to a more quiet place. Everyone else could adjust to their new bodies on their own (and if Ghirahim hurt Link she would end him later), but Guy just wouldn't be able to calm down in all that mess.

So off to the bathroom they went, where there are no windows and she can keep the light low so at least Guy isn't having to be constantly reminded of the fact that he's in a woman's body. If they're lucky, she'll be able to teach him how to shift into Sheik's body once he's settled a bit.

If they're not... well, she'll just think about that if it happens.]

Well, it's a little better in here, right?

[evilisfabulous]

*Ghirahim had been awake for some time already, staring at his own hands. Soft, peach-colored. Fleshy. Covered in callouses. Human. He was far more in awe that his mental processes weren't hampered by the violent urges that had plagued him for millennia. He could think clearly, and more importantly, he wasn't overcome with rage at the fact that he was apparently human, in a strange bed, with familiar green clothes nearby.

He had removed the shirt he didn't remember putting on the night before and put his hand over his chest (covered in old scars that should have been fatal, he notes) to feel the steady beat of a mortal heart when the shriek makes him startle.

Uncertain on legs that aren't his own, he at least puts some pants on before stumbling into the hallway, still in the shock of sudden clarity, to investigate the fuss. He never had a sense of human etiquette, so opening the door doesn't seem intrusive at all.

He wasn't expecting Zelda to be there, looking terrified. Of course, "Zelda" wouldn't recognize him as Ghirahim at all, but Link. Looking a bit dazed and disoriented.*

Zelda...?

[radiantchosenone]

[ Duke is... not quite sure why he's in the house again, because he's fairly sure he didn't fall into a coma or anything -

but this doesn't really matter because Zelda screamed. And that is very much a bad thing, so Duke stumbles out of bed, manages to not completely tear the door off the hinges, and starts toward the sound of the noise.

The other person helps him, really, and Duke doesn't quite seem to realize that he's got red hair at the moment.

But he can't tell what's wrong, because nothing smells off, so he doesn't.. know how to help. ]

[trepidity]

[Voicing a response to that?

........Naaaah.

He still attempts a weak nod, eyes snapped shut and arms shaking as he lowers himself to sit along the edge of the tub. He tries to find his voice, but his throat is tense and his lips refuse to move.

Ugh. Just... gonna duck his head down and draw his shoulders up and try to resist the urge to completely hyperventilate again. Which isn't working as well as he'd like.]

[breaksthefontech]

[Zelda sits down next to him, crossing her legs in an entirely too ladylike manner. Oh, that's... uncomfortable actually, let's uncross and readjust. She pulls Guy's head to rest on her shoulder (or rather, her own head to rest on Guy's. This is all beyond bizarre), blocking him from being able to see the body he's in even if he opens his eyes.

And then, not sure what else to do and forgetting there won't be any sort of magic behind it, she sings.]

Day to night, dark to light,
Fall the sands of time.
Let the years like the gears
Of a clock unwind

In your mind walk through time
Back to better days.
Memories, like a dream,
Wash tears away.

Like a star in the sky,
Darkness can't reach you
Light the night, joy is light,
Till the new dawn.

Cast away your old face
Let go your spite,
With this song I shall
Uncover your light...

[trepidity]

[The voice from the doorway is a little familiar, at least, and Guy snaps his head up for a moment to look.

...Link?

.........

Oh god.

Oh god, no, Link thought he was Zelda, didn't he...

Okay.... okay okay okay, Guy, maybe you can handle this. Maybe you can answer in some sort of coherent fashion.

Maybe you can get your lips to work when you're not digging your fingers into the sheets so hard your knuckles are turning white.

But all he can do is make a couple awkward mouthing attempts at words for a few seconds, before exhaling sharply, swallowing, and trying again.]

Link--- [Damn it no it's her voice, too-- okay, okay, attempting to breathe--]

L-Link, it's not... t-t-this isn't what it looks l-like, okay.....

[The words trip out of his mouth, caught between breaths as he has to listen to a voice that isn't his own speak out of his lips. He can feel his nails digging into his palms.

Hi there, Link; the lady on the bed sure looks like a frightened child right now.]

[evilisfabulous]

"Link"? I'm not...

*Ghirahim stops at the sound coming out of his mouth. That's not his voice. Not his voice at all.

He swallows and stumbles to the mirror in Zelda's room, staring at the reflection greeting him.*

H-how... What is this? How am I...

[radiantchosenone]

.... Likely curse.

[ Only that's not his voice, either, but Zelda being panicked means he should ignore that.

but now that Not!Link is out of the way, and Not!Zelda is still panicked, Duke steps into the room more, and studies her.

.... His magic doesn't really want to work right. ]

... If not Zelda, who?

lol already I'm ganking more icons GO ME

[trepidity]

[It was... peculiar. To hear a song in his own voice. He wasn't much of a singer, and he never really tried to be. There was a relaxing touch to it, though... sort of like when Tear would sing her fonic hymns. It was that aura of someone who knew their way around music.

Huh.

A hand hesitantly moves to grip against Zelda's knee as Guy attempts to breathe a little slower, pressing his forehead against the crook of Zelda's neck. It's not deep - far from it. But he isn't hyperventilating.]

...

...s-sorry.

I-I... I'm sorry...

[breaksthefontech]

You don't have to apologize for something like this. It's not your fault.

[She looks down at her own body. It's so strange to see it from this perspective. So small. Delicate. Terrified and trembling. Yet again she wonders what it was that made Guy so afraid of a woman's body.

And for the first time, she asks.]

Guy... what is it that made you so afraid? Is there anything I can do to help?

[blessedbyfarore]

[Link had been sleeping fairly peacefully up until the scream...]

[He starts awake, blinking in mild perplexity - had he been given a different room after arriving at Zelda's apartment? Because he's fairly certain that he had been given another...]

[Shaking it off, he swings his legs out of bed, still half-asleep and trying to make sense of what had woken him up. Someone had screamed, hadn't they?]

[...Zelda?]

[And suddenly, he's wide awake, hurrying out of the room and making for hers. He's barely even noticed the fact that he's about a foot taller than usual, focused on getting to Zelda, brushing past Zelos and...]

[Himself?]

...What's going on?

[trepidity]

[He stays quiet for a very long time.

He never really liked answering this question. Usually it came like clockwork. Now it was tripping out of his mouth clumsily, only as he was able to find the words.

...]

...I ... I don't know.

[He swallows dryly, letting his eyes open just to stare blankly at the bathroom wall.

He sounds very, very tired.]

I wasn't like this w-when I was younger... but part of my memory is... w-well, i-it's blocked. [For lack of a better term.]

S-so I can only follow hunches. Guesses, that m-maybe the cause lies there... but...

[But those guesses never get anywhere. He just couldn't remember.]

[breaksthefontech]

There's no helping it if you don't know, then...

[It must have been a terrible memory. Zelda shakes her head, taking hold of Guy's left hand and looking at it closely. Damn, this body can't sense magic very well... but the mark of the Triforce is still present. That means everything else should be, too.]

Try to focus on your shadow, Guy. Do you feel anything there?

[He should be able to feel a quiet presence. One that always watched over the princess, cool and soothing. The consciousness of "Sheik" is gone, but the body and all its abilities is still present.

Whether Guy will be able to access that or not is hard to say.]

[trepidity]

[Oh god where did all you people come from.

Normally, Guy would be perfectly okay in a crisis like this. Zelos was right (Was that even Zelos? His speech sounded... off) - it was a curse, more than likely. They were all disoriented, but if they kept calm, they could figure something out. Who was experiencing this stupid out-of-body experience and who wasn't, and maybe how they could reverse it if possible.

Sadly, though, Guy is anything but calm at this very moment, and the addition of even more confused people isn't helping him think rationally in any meaning of the word. He wants to run - run, hide, throw himself behind someone or under something to just escape, to feel safe, except for the fact that the focus of his fear is now himself.

Herself.

jksdhfsd

So he can only sit, screwing the blanket in his fingertips.]

I-I..... I'm sorry, I-I.

[It's little more than a murmur at first - dammit dammit dammit. He takes in another hiccup of a breath, tucking his head down farther and letting his voice raise.]

...

I...

G-g-get out.

A-all of you.

Out.

...

[Aaaand that pathetic little attempt was as much force as he can manage before lilting to one side, eyes clouding over as he starts to hyperventilate.

Welp.]

[trepidity]

R-right...

[...





O k a y, he's not even sure how he's supposed to focus on something like his shadow. He wasn't the most magically-inclined person in the world - strike artes were one thing, but actually trying the simplest of fonic artes was one of the most difficult things he had ever attempted. Like trying to fit a square peg through a round hole - it didn't flow or connect or... do whatever it was supposed to do.

That might explain why he only catches a whiff of anything from his shadow. It's there, briefly, and then it's gone. His fingers curl against the hand that's holding them (huh, had his hands ever been that rough...?) as he tries again, his expression growing more frustrated.]

...

I can, it's just...

I-I can't quite get a hold of it...

[His hands are already starting to tremble again.]

[breaksthefontech]

[It's obviously not working. Guy probably doesn't even realize he's doing it, but seeing his ears flicking slightly in agitation paints Zelda a clear picture of his mental state. She rubs a thumb over his hand soothingly, speaking in a soft voice.]

In Hyrule, we believe that there is two sides to everything. Light and shadow. Typically the two just exist parallel and never truly interact, but this is not always the case. Sheik is my other half, my shadow - my Sheikah. My guardian Impa, a Sheikah herself, taught me to access that other half.

[How much should she say? She avoids talking about that night whenever she can help it, but Guy... he might need to hear it to understand. To grasp that mindset, to be able to complete the transformation.

If nothing else, it should provide a distraction.]

...When I was ten years old, the capital of my country was attacked by a great force of darkness. My father was slain, and as the heir to the throne, it became the priority of the entire city to get me out. Almost our entire army fell that night, and each one of them told me the same thing:

You must live.

Impa fled from the city with me, leaving it behind to burn. We sought the help of my remaining family members, but Ganondorf slaughtered them as well. He was able to seek them out somehow. They all left me the same message - to run, to live.

I felt worthless. I couldn't protect anyone, I couldn't even protect myself. It was then that Impa took me to the Shadow Temple and unlocked my other half. It was easy to let him take over. I wanted to run and hide; I wanted to disappear to a place where Ganondorf could never find me. But most of all, I wanted to live. I wanted to live and make him pay.

It's that feeling I call on when I want to become Sheik.

[trepidity]

[...

Zelda's words strike an odd chord in the back of Guy's mind. It goes beyond touching that aching familiarity to his own past, scraping at something he's.... not even sure should sound so close to home.

You must live.

It's not just a simple flick of anxiety this time - those ears tilt straight down as Guy's eyes drift to the floor. Is he upset, or is his mind racing, or is he just ...confused? It's remarkably hard to tell from the expression on his face - still filtering that wave of panic through the tension around his eyes and jaw, but staying neutral otherwise.

This... what was this?

...

It's only a moment before his expression shifts - dropping his inner confusion with a slow, shaking exhale of breath and an odd determination in his eyes.]

I... I understand. [A shaky attempt at a smile - it's small, but gentle. Honest, without pity.] I understand entirely.

I'll try again. J-just... give me a moment.

[breaksthefontech]

[A lot of those little body language cues are missed. It's the first time - the first time she's ever said any of that out loud and said how she felt about it, too. Yes, she had told Zelos just about everything during the confessions curse, but it had all been a clinical description. Just the facts, none of the emotions. Laying it all out without hiding anything has her feeling more than a little overwhelmed.]

Of course. Take your time.

[She loosens her hold on his hand slightly, but doesn't pull away.]

[trepidity]

[He keeps quiet for a few moments, simply regaining his composure and letting himself lean right back against Zelda's neck. When Zelda's grip loosens, his strengthens, taking her hand in both of his as he lets his eyes drift closed.

His speech is slow, and he pauses constantly to try to keep as much of the stammer away as possible. He's still shaking. But his voice holds an understanding - not someone who is attempting to process, but one who just knows. He knows, and if he weren't so damn scared he would be tempted to just tell her outright.

But he lets it flow into his concentration. Seeing if this is, in fact, the feeling she's talking about.]

It's.... hard, isn't it.

It's a desperation that only comes to... well. A certain kind of people, I guess. A w-will to live that's stronger than anything you can... can properly explain. Not without being misunderstood. Vulnerable.

W-when your strength's b-been taken away... isn't it odd how easy it is to cling t-to whatever you have left and refuse to let it go...?

Fighting, striving, hiding what you have to... not just because you're afraid sometimes. But because you know you have more to live for, more you have to accomplish than you can fully explain. Because you just... know your life is more valuable than you can ever admit to anyone but yourself.

It's... horrifying.

But it's just something y-you have to do.

[...

That feeling comes back, incredibly strong, close enough that he thinks he could even touch it... but once again, something doesn't click. It fades, and the disappointment is quick to flicker across his face.]

......

I'm sorry.

[He may not be talking about Sheik.]

[breaksthefontech]

Yes. You must, and not just for yourself... but for all those that came before you. For everyone that fell, for everyone that prayed for deliverance, for everyone that entrusted their hopes...

[She swallows hard. She can hear it in Guy's tone. He doesn't just understand, he knows. He's lived it, the same as she has. Oh, she's always known that his past held something painful. Call it a premonition, or maybe she just recognized all the signs of someone who wasn't living just for their own sake. She never asked. She didn't want him to have to say it, didn't want to make him feel vulnerable like she does right now. Didn't want to open up in return, or maybe she was afraid to.

There's no taking it back now.]

You don't have anything to apologize for. The past is the past. We're alive, aren't we?

[Not "I" - "we".]

[trepidity]

[This is the first time. The first time he's ever had this sort of thing... click. With anyone but Van. It's still a bit empty - she's laid herself out when he knows she is unaware of what happened to him. But one thing at a time. The subject of her own trauma was enough of a departure from her normal topics of speech that Guy can assume it was... difficult.

So she should understand that him doing the same isn't going to be any easy endeavor either. But she knows now. She's aware. He could leave it at "it was a war. People died. I try not to think about it." The answer he left for anyone that bothered to ask.

He isn't sure right now.

His hands squeeze against her palm gently in a silent sort of thanks, although he does turn his head up slightly at her words. The past is the past, huh?

He can't help but laugh. Soft, quiet... and cut off a bit as he tenses at the sound of Zelda's voice - Zelda's laugh - from his mouth. The squeeze of his fingers grips just a little tighter, choking on his breath and pressing his lips together for a very long moment before bothering to speak up again.

Breathe. In. Out.

...Okay.]

I... I guess we are, huh.

Besides... y-you... you can't look forward if you keep looking back... right?

[...right.]

Someone told me that. A-a long time ago.

I don't know i-if I ever took it seriously enough for the longest time... but it's still pretty deep. Makes you wonder.

[breaksthefontech]

[She smiles back at him gently. Whether Guy tells her now or not, he's right - she will be understanding. She won't push him to tell her, though she does want to know.]

Wise words. You shouldn't forget what's behind you, but you have to focus on the future.

[Something she can't bring herself to do entirely. Knowing the right path is one thing, following it is another. As much as Zelda pushes herself to move on, she's only ever managed to accomplish it outwardly. Inside, there's still a large part of her stuck in the past.

And as for the immediate future? Guy seems to have calmed down just a little, if only because he apparently forgot which body he was inhabiting temporarily.]

[trepidity]

[In a sense. He's still very aware of the form he's in. But keeping himself pressed up to Zelda, keeping his hands against hers... talking in this fashion... it's a welcome distraction.]

I-it's... hah, it's not just that.

They openly decided that they didn't need a past. That that sort of weight wasn't something they had to have... weighing them down, in a sense.

It's... not just a focus on the future. T-they just knew right now was better than whatever they might have left behind. And... they were perfectly okay with that.

...

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't just a little envious of that.

I-it's hard to say words like that and make yourself believe it, when you have to leave so much behind.

[And yet Luke still managed.

Guy could never do that. To forget those that died? To forget what had happened, the mistakes and carelessness and cowardice and selfishness that had occurred? All for the sake of moving on?

He couldn't do it.]