melodiesoflife | Will you play with me?

Entry tags:

Will you play with me?

Who: Whoever wants to rescue Ib
What: Ib has been captured by a doll ghost.
When: Late in the month
Warnings: A fairly dangerous monster.

[Ib didn't take the Ghostbuster job, but she still wanted to help everyone catch the ghosts. She was doing alright until late one night. (Way past her usual bedtime really she should have been home hours ago.) When she first saw the doll, she thought it might be like the ghost dogs. Just adorable and friendly and wanting someone to be nice to them.

So she agreed to play with it. Which was a pretty big mistake. Now there's a ghost doll wandering around with a tiny Ib clutched in her grasp. That's probably bad...]

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Yuna smiled when Celes retrieved the little doll. She was going to make sure to spoil the little moogle as well, more so because he hated being used for Yuna's beast master pet.

With a renewed sense of strength she continued her attack towards the doll, her feet taking a few careful steps forward in order for her beam to get a better shot of the doll.

Celes, with Ib in hand, zips over to Billy's side. The little moogle pulls a potion from his pocket and puts it into the heroes hand while hiding behind the heroes torso. He's not always the bravest moogle and with the Ib doll with him he wasn't about to keep himself in view of the crazy looking doll monster.

The doll's shadowy arm grabbed Billy's legs out from under him, and he went down hard. His head connected harshly with the ground, and for a moment, he was stunned.

The moogle's potion being pressed into his hands made him stir. "Get...Ib...away," he ordered, his words coming out a little fuzzy. They were still too close to the creature, and it would take back its Ib-shield if it could.

He fumbled with the cork to Celes' bottle. Logic was still making funny circles in his head, though, and he didn't trust himself to make his own retreat until he got that potion inside of him.

The combined assault of three proton packs tears into the shadowy form of the ghost. It lashes out with shadowy arms, almost at random now. There is no coordinated assault here, this is the random flailing of a pained and desperate creature.

"DIE! DIE! ALL OF YOU DIE!!!

And then the trap opens under it. It struggles against the pull as it's slowly pulled down into the the small box. Right before it's pulled in, it resumes it's doll form. And the last sound it makes is a tearful cry.

Once it's gone, the little Ib doll starts growing, until Ib is back to her normal size. Only then does she find she can move again. But she doesn't, not right away. She just trembles and stares at the people who saved her, realizing just how close she was to dying. Or worse, being a doll forever.

The first one to reach Ib is Celes. The little moogle threw his arms around the young girl, plopping himself in her lap as the young girl began to tremble.

Yuna walked up to her but she didn't want to crowd so she stayed back, allowing Celes to comfort her.

"It's okay now."

There is a loud clash as Kaji just drops the proton pack, sliding the delicate machinery off his shoulders and letting it fall where he stands. Forget all of this, there's nothing more important right now than Ib.

"Hey, hey, it's okay." He drops to his knees and reaches out to draw Ib right up into his arms. She can keep on holding the moogle if it helps. "We're all here, it's okay now." He'll give her a shoulder to cry on, literally. His voice is far gentler than anyone other than Ib has heard it before.

"You're safe now."

Billy pushed himself up onto his knees, but held back from joining in the crying and hugging. Ib needed a little time just being comforted by someone who really cared about her, and Kaji seemed to have that covered.

He ducked his head and cast a quiet healing spell over the entangled man, moogle, and child. He'd get the poison neutralized once his head was a little less spinny.

Sparks let out a quiet sigh of relief. He gathered up the still-smoking trap, and muttered something to himself about what might happen to a ghost once stuck inside. Oh well. That's the ghost's problem now, wasn't it?

The poison had left him feeling queasy, so Sparks wasn't too keen on sticking around. After giving Kaji and Ib a few moments, he walked over near them and addresses Kaji quietly.

"C'mon, hombre. Let's get her home."

The tears start falling as soon as Celes hugs her, and she clings to the moogle like a lifeline. Somehow this had been a more terrifying experience than fighting the giant robot at the Eidolon temple. At least then she could do something.

Being trapped in that tiny body, unable to move, to talk.... it was terrifyingly claustrophobic. And watching as the doll wandered around and attacked others, being unable to even warn them....

But when Kaji kneels down next to her, she releases the moogle in favor of throwing her arms around his neck and sobbing into his shoulder.

"D- daddy..."

Her voice is quiet. And, given how distraught she is, Ib might not have even noticed that she called him that. But she has been thinking of him that way for a while now.

Without another word Yuna moved to pick up the proton back that Kaji had dropped to the ground. Celes fluttered to her side to bury his head in her shoulder to hide the tears that fell down his cheeks. He was a good moogle but he hadn't experienced anything like this before.

There wasn't more to be said so she waited for Kaji to take Ib home. She'd drop off the pack but it was clear that Ib needed her father right now.

The word startles him, but, to Kaji's credit, he doesn't stiffen up. Everyone else will see the briefly conflicted look on his face. Daddy? He's no father, he's no role model, unless it's a life example of what not to do.

But she needs a father right now. So. Maybe it's the kid's choice. A hand goes to the back of her head to pet her hair and settle her in against his shoulder. Daddy it is.

Kaji scoops her up and stands up with Ib still held tight against his chest. "Thank you, everybody." Voice is quiet but wavering a little. "Come on, let's get you home."

He isn't sure who will follow, but if they are just as concerned as he is, it's understandable. His priority is to get her home and get her into bed so maybe she can just pretend this was all a bad dream.

Billy forced himself up when Kaji tried to leave. "J-just a moment," he called out. If the poison was left unchecked, it would keep eating away at Kaji. He did not want the man to pass out with the child still in his arms.

Billy took a few shaky steps toward the pair. "She needs you to be strong," he murmured to the man, hoping Ib wasn't able to hear. Kaji might have look briefly panicked about his new responsibilities, but Ib needed him to be steadfast and sure... and, most importantly, present.

He cast the Esuna spell to nullify the doll's poison. "If there is anything else either of you need..." he offered quietly.

Ib just clings to Kaji, ignoring everything else in favor of the simple comfort of safety. Not that she isn't grateful, and she'll definitely thank everyone who saved her. Just... not right now. Right now is just crying and clinging. More than anything else, she just wants to go home.

Yuna would follow just to drop off Kaji's gear and then leave the young girl to recover. She knew that Ib would need her rest.

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