[It's almost funny. Basil had no reason to realize what the true effects of the music were, at first. He didn't have the same sort of sudden realization that Max had, but rather...a slow drip, painful and arduous, that worsened as the days went on. Because unfortunately for Basil, the sound of a violin is not at all pleasant to his ears. The music, jaunty and upbeat, does not ring that way when he first hears it.
No, when the first tones came to him even through his closed window, Basil had been shocked awake, upright in bed by the strings that sang a sad meloncholy at him. It thrummed a melody that vibrated in his veins, settled like a stone in the pit of his stomach and festered.
For what Basil feels is guilt.
It is far from a new emotion. He feels it, ambiently, every single day of his life. He's able to push it aside more easily here than he could back home, due to the fact that he's currently so divorced from the source. Most people here just see him as Basil...nothing more. He is not connected to tragedy, unless you count being here one. He may still be guarding a secret close to his chest, and it may have already slipped through the cracks a few times...but it's little enough that he's been able to manage it. Katurian has not brought it up again, Kaito was extremely quick to brush it all off as a nightmarish hallucination. It wasn't great, but it was manageable. Basil could handle it.
...but on the second day of the siren song's assault, Something appeared.
For the first time since Basil's arrival...he can see it. He can see it very clearly, situated in the corner of his bedroom...watching him. That ugly, massive eye, looking down on him and asking the question: why? Why did you do it, Basil? How could you? How could you hurt your friends? How could you hurt him? Hurt her?
Logic dictates that he would want to leave his room to escape it, but he does not. He instead remains huddled in his room, curled up on the bed as the pressure mounts, like a balloon steadily growing in his skull. Because the truth is...the truth? For some time now, Basil had been...wondering. Hoping that maybe, just maybe, Sunny would come to him and they could maybe...do something. It isn't a massive hope, nor has it over-ridden his desire to keep the secret entirely, but it's there...under many, many layers. Hope against hope, perhaps. Recent events had all but destroyed the possibility of course, leaving Basil more distraught and in turmoil than ever before...
And that is what this melody latches on to. The idea that there IS no way out. There is nothing he can do.
...except to tell someone else. Anyone. Someone, anyone, please help him-
He'd been in one of these states of disassociation, sometimes in his room at the Palazzo, sometimes in his room at Grandma's, always with Something watching him, when he'd heard a voice beyond his door that startled him so badly he's sure his heart stopped. He barely registers it as Max- just as a young voice, around his age- and part of him isn't even sure if it's actually there. He'd sat and listened for a long time, but when nothing else came...it was back to the cycle. The music seems to just be getting louder and louder, making him feel ill. He barely leaves to eat, or drink, he just...
Wants it to stop.
But then...
Basil lifts his head from his knees, refusing now to look in the corner because it's still there, lurking, and he's almost gotten accustomed to its presence at this point. He thinks he heard something just then, like before (how long ago was it? An hour? A day? A week?), and he's almost ready to ignore it when...it continues. And the voice- her voice- is just enough to pull him out of his stupor.]
M...Max...
[He sits up a little more, the soft bioluminescent glow of the flowers growing from his horns the only thing lighting his room, currently. They're gladiolus. They have been ever since the music began.
No. No no no.
It's so hard to fight it. It's so hard that Basil is starting to feel a real, physical ache from the force.
omori spoilers from here on, will tag for more specific heavy cws, cw: hallucination, dissasociation
No, when the first tones came to him even through his closed window, Basil had been shocked awake, upright in bed by the strings that sang a sad meloncholy at him. It thrummed a melody that vibrated in his veins, settled like a stone in the pit of his stomach and festered.
For what Basil feels is guilt.
It is far from a new emotion. He feels it, ambiently, every single day of his life. He's able to push it aside more easily here than he could back home, due to the fact that he's currently so divorced from the source. Most people here just see him as Basil...nothing more. He is not connected to tragedy, unless you count being here one. He may still be guarding a secret close to his chest, and it may have already slipped through the cracks a few times...but it's little enough that he's been able to manage it. Katurian has not brought it up again, Kaito was extremely quick to brush it all off as a nightmarish hallucination. It wasn't great, but it was manageable. Basil could handle it.
...but on the second day of the siren song's assault, Something appeared.
For the first time since Basil's arrival...he can see it. He can see it very clearly, situated in the corner of his bedroom...watching him. That ugly, massive eye, looking down on him and asking the question: why? Why did you do it, Basil? How could you? How could you hurt your friends? How could you hurt him? Hurt her?
Logic dictates that he would want to leave his room to escape it, but he does not. He instead remains huddled in his room, curled up on the bed as the pressure mounts, like a balloon steadily growing in his skull. Because the truth is...the truth? For some time now, Basil had been...wondering. Hoping that maybe, just maybe, Sunny would come to him and they could maybe...do something. It isn't a massive hope, nor has it over-ridden his desire to keep the secret entirely, but it's there...under many, many layers. Hope against hope, perhaps. Recent events had all but destroyed the possibility of course, leaving Basil more distraught and in turmoil than ever before...
And that is what this melody latches on to. The idea that there IS no way out. There is nothing he can do.
...except to tell someone else. Anyone. Someone, anyone, please help him-
He'd been in one of these states of disassociation, sometimes in his room at the Palazzo, sometimes in his room at Grandma's, always with Something watching him, when he'd heard a voice beyond his door that startled him so badly he's sure his heart stopped. He barely registers it as Max- just as a young voice, around his age- and part of him isn't even sure if it's actually there. He'd sat and listened for a long time, but when nothing else came...it was back to the cycle. The music seems to just be getting louder and louder, making him feel ill. He barely leaves to eat, or drink, he just...
Wants it to stop.
But then...
Basil lifts his head from his knees, refusing now to look in the corner because it's still there, lurking, and he's almost gotten accustomed to its presence at this point. He thinks he heard something just then, like before (how long ago was it? An hour? A day? A week?), and he's almost ready to ignore it when...it continues. And the voice- her voice- is just enough to pull him out of his stupor.]
M...Max...
[He sits up a little more, the soft bioluminescent glow of the flowers growing from his horns the only thing lighting his room, currently. They're gladiolus. They have been ever since the music began.
No. No no no.
It's so hard to fight it. It's so hard that Basil is starting to feel a real, physical ache from the force.
He can't.]
T...the door....it's...
[Unlocked. It's always been unlocked.]