Night 64: Basement, Grand Ballroom

[firewhichrefines]

[[from here]]

The same nausea and the same sick pulling sensation, and then Sasuke was breathing in the cool, slightly dank air of underground. The faint empty echo when he dropped Aidou's arm and took a step forward suggested a large space -- the large room at the bottom of the stairs to the basement, then. Not the arena where ...

That hadn't been his blood, of course.

Sasuke tilted his head back to the other two, waiting. If there was something new as a consequence of what they'd supposedly won, it couldn't be heard: Aidou would have to be the one to find it, as infuriating as that fact was.

Comments

[idolism]

No special treatment? That was rich coming from an infected person who had already asked him to intervene if she was unable to take care of herself. And claiming that she was capable of being discreet, no less. Who was she trying to fool? Jeez, give me a break… More accurately, something was probably going to cause trouble for them before the night was out--probably Aigis. Chances were high she was going to annoy Aidou at least once by being her usual indiscreet self, at least.

That scenario was closer to the truth.

“So you say now…” he muttered, raising his voice to say, “And speak for yourself, Sasuke, I’m not turning into anything.”

There was no time to say anything else, however, for not a second later Sasuke was reaching out to manhandle him into position. Rude! Of course, from Aigis’ perspective, a blind, grumpy boy threatening to kill her might have seemed ruder in comparison, but death threats weren’t that odd to Aidou. Especially considering he’d already promised Aigis as much himself.

Still, as soon as the ring had worked its insufferable magic and the flash of disorientation had passed, Aidou took a look around the ballroom before glancing at Aigis, eyebrows raised. “Don’t let his ridiculous hair fool you, I’m sure he’s serious about the killing you part.”

For never being where he was needed, allowing Aigis to come along, and for waving that stupid ring under his nose, Sasuke deserved to have someone make fun of his bedhead at least once. It helped to keep Aidou’s mind off of the memories of his most recent trip to the basement, of Coliseum seats and spraying sand.

No, nothing like that would happen again now that they knew where the southernmost door led…

He tipped his head, surveying the cold, quiet expanse of marble before speaking again. His tone, now sober and contemplative, had lost its slight mocking undercurrent. “Aigis, you’ve said before that you’re interested in the basement. How much of it have you seen?” Surely the girl hadn’t seen what he and Sasuke had seen; she would’ve given some indication of it. Surely.

[no_dont_go]

Aigis hardly expected any other reaction to her possible transformation, so she didn't comment on Sasuke's blunt words. Nor did she feel the need to reassure about the ring, even though she knew it would not do no such thing as turn them. She merely waited, calm and composed, allowing Aidou's hand to be placed unceremoniously on her shoulder as they took the leap.

The disorientation was quick to pass, though Aigis was proud she remained upright the entire time. She shivered a bit longer than usual, but she didn't feel any sicker once the spinning stopped.

They were in the underground ballroom again. Aigis took a step away from the group, almost mesmerized by the shifting light of the torches along the walls. Aidou's voice rang out in a slight echo, but his words perplexed her. She hadn't questioned Sasuke's honesty. Perplexed, Aigis turned back to them, inclining her head to the dark-haired boy. "I apologize if I seemed dismissive. I look forward to you keeping your word..."

As it was, Aigis could only hope they would follow through if she changed. She wished for nothing less.

But as for her previous experience. "Not much at all. This room is the furthest we reached. There was..." She bit her lip. "... an altercation amongst my companions."

[firewhichrefines]

What was wrong with his hair? Sasuke frowned. He had by now accepted that Aidou paid perhaps more attention than necessary to appearance than really needed -- they were in a fiction of a crazy farm run by real crazy people with no complete understanding of why said crazies were crazy, all Sasuke personally considered necessary was maintaining a lack of distinct odour to make him harder to track.

Did his hair somehow make it seem less likely that he would follow through on that promise?

Fortunately, Aigis seemed less finicky than Aidou about how one should appear when promising death, so with that particular condition set they could hopefully move on to more useful discussions, even if she was bizarrely polite about being told she would be killed. In that she reminded him of Sai -- another vanish-ee -- and a memory Sasuke didn't want to entertain in here.

"An altercation?" He asked. Better to focus on another's than their own. "Of their own choice?"

[idolism]

Aigis couldn’t know--literally couldn’t, because neither Aidou nor Sasuke were capable of talking about it--that her group’s waffling around might have saved her some heartache. For both himself and Sasuke, investigating the basement’s many trials had taken a fair bit of time, but not for lack of trying. Under the right circumstances, likely one or the other would have completed the trials and consequently charged into the Coliseum’s ambush within a matter of nights.

A regrettable experience. One that was better off kept out of reach.

If Aigis had had better luck with her companions it would’ve been one step closer to meeting the requirements for the southernmost door, so in a way perhaps her failure was a good thing, after all.

While Sasuke voiced his question, the noble touched his fingers to his chin and slowly turned to face the last of the unfamiliar doors--the large, black stone behemoth situated by the basement stairs. Aidou at least had an idea about all of the trials, even if he’d only gone through two of them in person. That door, though… Now, after the Coliseum was over and done with, it was the only pathway he knew almost nothing about.

In retrospect, that door was probably the last of a sequence.

[no_dont_go]

"Not quite," Aigis replied quietly. Her mind went back to that night, when Athena came so swiftly to her aid, and with such force as she remembered back home. It was troubling, thinking of her now in the weakened state she was bound in. Fluttering, ethereal, like a ghost of a butterfly.

She had no reason to withhold information. She elaborated on the situation with merely a glance towards the dark-haired boy. "The night our powers were returned in full, our group managed to make our way down here. One member was quite distraught to find that our powers were once again 'nerfed' when we entered this room."

She shook her head, a bit pained to think of Sechs now. That poor man was even more out of his element than she, and yet he always seemed so much stronger. "I did not blame him for his dismay. This place...." Her voice lowered even further, taking on a dark edge that added more emotion to her voice than usual, "... I would have it razed to the ground if not for the limits Landel keeps on me."

Her words were no empty promise. The moment Harrington or whomever managed to permanently restore her power, she was not going to let this place stand a minute longer than necessary to empty it of its inhabitants.

[firewhichrefines]

Not quite? For a moment, Sasuke wondered if Aigis had been confused about her experience in the basement and gone through the doors to the arena after all -- but she kept talking, and it was clear that it had been a choice. Or more of a choice, whatever the arena was something less and more than a choice in its own right, but in any case ... not a fight to the death. Perhaps she had been travelling with a new patient, unaccustomed to the fluctuation of strength and weakness, awareness and uselessness.

That last, however, spoke to a greater use than just the ability to heal. Sasuke hadn't spent the past few years in the company of largely kidnapped shinobi held against their will to not come to value the importance of willpower and a goal. This Aigis could well be a worthwhile ally.

"Is it within your usual abilities, then?" He asked, following Aidou's steady footsteps across the hall. "Razing the Institute to the ground?"

If it were, and if any of them were given the opportunity, Aigis would have a fight on her hands to have first dibs on the place or on Landel.

[idolism]

… if not for the limits Landel keeps on me.

The vampire had to make an effort not to show the affect talking about their repressed strength had on him. The stronger the creature, the more such a schism between power and identity hurt; he didn’t hesitate to count himself amongst those of great ability. He knew the feeling of being without something that should have rightfully been his and the fury that followed--fury enough to cloud one’s judgement. He understood Aigis’ companion, in that sense.

But they were weak again. Back to struggling for answers again. Bringing the Institute to its knees was once more a distant goal dependant upon perseverance.

Aidou moved closer to the door, stopping short of its rough surface. Mapping out whatever lay in the Institute’s depths was a part of that perseverance, even when it led straight into a trap as it had with the Coliseum. Right now, razing the place to the ground was out of the question--continuing the search, though, that was within reach. It was why combining efforts with Aigis and Sasuke wasn’t so objectionable that he would cast the girl away. She was, as evident through her tone, in agreement with the two of them that finding a means to undermine the Institute was paramount.

When she wasn’t threatening suicide, anyway.

He made a noise, a hummed noted, before looking behind him at the others. There was a cold smile on his lips that had the quality of ice to it--remorseless underneath the elegance. “I was beginning to wonder about you,” he said to Aigis, returning to the conversation. “I’m glad to see you have that resoluteness. But you mean to say your abilities disappeared again when you reached the basement? That’s interesting. Like the room itself has restrictions. Probably a quality of challenging those who come down this way. Like this door for example--” With that, he rapped the back of his hand against the stone before touching his fingertips to its face. Faintly, he picked up the hint of hinges shuddering to life. “This door probably leads to a ludicrous test of ability.”

[no_dont_go]

"Certainly. I was created with the cutting-edge technology of the Kirijo Group. Along with Athena, my power surpasses that of a standard battle tank." Aigis spoke with the frankness of someone confident but modest about their abilities. She spoke the truth; no more, no less.

She turned and followed the two boys across the floor to a specific door. She had never been beyond any of the door down here, so she couldn't possibly imagine what could follow.

"I am nothing if not driven," Aigis said, unsure if Aidou was meaning to incite anger in her or if he was just being his same, purposefully rude self. She let it slide with that meager comment, though. She was used to his rough verbal treatment.

"A test..." Aigis glared into the dark wood of the door. Landel was just going to toy with them again. But if this was the next step, then Aigis was prepared to deal with it.

[firewhichrefines]

Created with technology: had she been bred, then, or hybridized with something? Sasuke's curiosity piqued -- what was a battle tank? He filed the term away to ask about later, at some time when they weren't facing down a door that Aidou identified, likely correctly, as the portal to yet another test. Another like the last one?

No: Landel liked to mix his challenges, if nothing else. Probably the man got bored of watching patients scurrying around the Institute day in and day out; possibly he devised ridiculous trials over dinner before practicing his cackle into the intercom at nightfall. It was difficult not to be reminded of Kabuto, who had had a scientist's genuine pleasure in the experiments conducted, more so than Orochimaru's utilitarian interest.

"We've faced tests before," he said finally, putting aside the question of what Aigis was and where her strength derived for more immediate matters. "The Institute always gives what it deems necessary to face it with a fighting chance."

Because the goal wasn't to kill them all: it would have been infinitely easier and quicker had that been the purpose of the Institute all along.

"We'll move forward."

[idolism]

“Yes, driven like a machine,” Aidou agreed absently, more interested in the double doors than Aigis’ account of her abilities. That night, superfluous details could wait. That night, he wanted what Aigis and Sasuke both probably wanted--a sign of progress.

He’d stepped closer, head tipped back to take in the crude texture, when Sasuke made his observation regarding the Institute’s idea of necessity. He resisted the urge to snort, because it wouldn’t do any good. For Sasuke, who had been forced to fight in the Coliseum with seemingly no other option but to kill another person, it would only be insulting. The boy was close enough to the truth that the point was moot.

Landel did veil his trials under the guise of giving the prisoners choices, and Aidou was sure this next room would be no different.

“I’ll lead, then. Allow me.”

Despite having been physically weakened, Aidou needed no help to push open the doors themselves. They didn’t resist his touch, which told him they were welcome beyond the ballroom--whether that was indeed a good or bad thing.

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