Night 69: Main Hallway, 1-West

[his_legacy]

[From here]

Just as last night, Link stood and waited along the wall of the main hallway. Nobody else was out, yet. Good. He had made good time. One never truly knew, here.

He didn't expect to wait long. They all seemed to be very competent people, perhaps with the slight exception of the Once-ler. Though Link could not complain. He had been a bumbling fool the first time he had faced a true monster.

[The Green Team!]

Comments

[fourstonewalls]

[from here]

A small crowd was loitering in the hallway, but none of them the people she was looking for. She started slowly pacing the section of the hall between the doors to the men's and women's blocks; she'd fallen asleep on the floor the last time, and, if nothing else, she was determined not to have that be the issue tonight. Her flashlight traced out a precise curve as she turned; six steps back to the other end, and another pivot. It gave her something to do, at least.

[L, Edgar, and Nina]

[mirrorimage]

[From here.]

It didn't take Nina long to get to the meeting place her group had a agreed upon. Anticipation made her stomach tight. Nonetheless, she felt herself light up a bit at the sight of Lana, who was pacing and waiting for them.

"Lana!" said Nina in a loud whisper, waving as she approached.

[ryuuzaki]

[From here.]

L checked to the left first (all clear), then turned the corner in time to see Nina approaching Lana from the opposite direction. He joined the two of them in a few long, quiet strides.

Lana still didn't look well. Why had it become so difficult for her to get a cure, now that they knew what it was and how to get it? Was someone intentionally keeping her away from it, or was it just circumstantial? Or had she tried it, and it hadn't worked?

He held up one hand, as if to stall greeting, then turned off his torch and stuck it under his arm, then slung the backpack off his shoulder and unzipped the front pouch.

"I don't know if this is still any good, but it's worth a try if you want it."

With that, he produced the little plastic bag from his backpack and, holding it with just the tips of his thumb and index finger, offered it to Lana.

[girlsandgadgets]

[From here.]

Edgar arrived last again, but at least the entire party seemed to have made it. He rounded the corner as Ryuuzaki went digging into his bag, eyeing the other man another second before shifting his attention to the women. They all received a nod in greeting.

"I trust the three of you weren't waiting long," he said as he approached, straightening up, ignoring the pull of the stitches on his neck. At least he was used to them by now, or getting there.

[fourstonewalls]

"Not at all, and yes, I do," Lana said, to Edgar and Ryuuzaki respectively. She took the bag with the same delicacy as he'd used offering it, and held it up for inspection. It was wrinkled and a bit dessicated, but still clearly the same plant, and she opened the bag, plucked it out, and ate it. Relief wasn't instant, except possibly in her mind, but that was likely due to days of exhaustion.

"Did you have a destination in mind, or were we just planning to wander aimlessly?" she added, mostly to Ryuuzaki. She'd accomplished the primary thing she'd intended for tonight, but that wasn't a reason to stop.

[ryuuzaki]

[Skipping Nina this round!]

Once Lana had taken the flower, L gave Edgar a nod of acknowledgment and reversed the whole process: he zipped the bag shut, replaced it on the less tender of his shoulders, retrieved his torch, and switched the light back on.

Then, L watched Lana, his gaze keen and intent. Would the supposed cure work? He'd felt responsible for her, especially after the long slog through cold, wet fields and woods, where the reward for all their labor had turned out to be healing for only one of them. If that -- if it wasn't an illusion of some kind.

His stare broke when she spoke to him. He replied, airily, with a put-upon expression, "Yes, I was thinking that we could wander aimlessly." There was a beat of silence, and he added in a more serious tone, "To be honest, it depends on the condition everyone is in." He turned his head to meet Edgar's eyes, then turned it back to address Lana again. "The two of you" -- he glanced at Nina -- "haven't attempted the basement yet, I believe? It might be an option, but there's something important that everyone should understand before trying it... and even then, everyone needs to be in good shape. I have a portal ring that will take us there, but I can't guarantee most of what we'll find once we're down there.

"The other option is what we were attempting to do last night: another visit to the X-Ray Room to be sure that, if an implant was making us sick, the St John's Wort destroyed it. This might turn out to be the less taxing choice... but if we do that, I'd like to try to go to the basement tomorrow."

Apart from his brief glances at the others, he hadn't looked away from Lana. He reached up to run his fingers through his hair, rubbing his scalp.

If they went to the X-Ray Room, he realized, the others might see the first implant. They shouldn't... they should be taking images of his stomach... but none of them was a trained radiologist. That line of thought led him to wonder whether he'd choose to do it. He could confirm for himself that it had happened, and he could let the others know what had been done to him, within certain limits.

He would never tell anyone about some of the elements of the procedure. If he could have the implant removed, one day, he would try to forget it had ever been there.

[girlsandgadgets]

Edgar's eyes met Ryuuzaki's briefly, the meaning of his glance understood. "None of you need concern yourself with my condition, Ryuuzaki," he assured with a smile, one practiced to hide the worries plaguing his own mind. "I've been in worse states than this." Of course, that had been back in his own world, where magic was available to them as they fought for their lives against a would-be god. Landel might have been just as mad as Kefka, but many of the similarities ended there.

His attention trailed to the shovel in his hands, his makeshift weapon for nearly his entire stay at the institution- it wasn't the best choice, nor his first, but it hadn't let him down yet, unlike his unreliable magic. "My only productive trip to the basement was on the night where the doors were enchanted, every room leading somewhere completely unexpected. I ended up down there by sheer luck. The other time we went down there" —he nodded to Ryuuzaki— "we weren't able to get through the doors."

There was a half-second's pause before his eyes flicked back to the rest of the party. "If Lana is feeling well enough, I'm eager to go back and try something else. We're not making much progress up here, and the situation is only getting worse. If some answers to this place lie below us, then that's where we should go."

[fourstonewalls]

"I'm fine," Lana shot back, as soon as he'd finished. She wasn't, but she would be, and that was close enough. "I think that sounds like an excellent idea.

She glanced down the hallway, towards the sun room; while they didn't need to go that way, not with a ring, she couldn't help looking. A pair of patients were eying the open doors. Children. Late teens at the outmost for the older one; he might be a legal adult but, if so, only by a technicality. Lana's stomach lurched, this time for reasons that had nothing to do with radioactive butterflies, having had little other than a flower for dinner, or a week of illness. She shoved the feeling back down, narrowed her eyes, and held out her hand. There was a damn good reason they were doing this, ill and injured and walking into what they all knew was a trap.

"The sooner we start, the sooner it will be over with."

[mirrorimage]

"I think we should go to the basement too," Nina piped up, sqaring her shoulders. She had just been thinking that a different course of action might be better. What Edgar said about not getting in through the doors gave her pause, but it was still worth trying.

[ryuuzaki]

L continued to peer at Lana, narrow-eyed, obviously evaluating her current capacity. She had slogged through a field in miserable weather when she had been, in theory, more ill than she was now.

If her condition was poor, she might get hurt in the basement; he would prefer to avoid it, he needed all the allies he could get, but as long as her weakness didn't lead to injury for anyone else, it might not be too much of a problem.

He and Nina were both well-armed and in good shape. They could protect themselves, and they knew to look out for Lana and Edgar's vulnerabilities. L wasn't sure that they could protect the others -- that would depend on what they encountered -- but if Lana healed as quickly as he had, she probably wouldn't need protection. And Edgar wasn't stupid: if he said he could handle himself, he could handle himself. The scenario wasn't perfect, but it was better than it had been in days, and they couldn't wait indefinitely for ideal conditions.

Finally, he gave a decisive nod. There was something still troubling him, something else to discuss, but it could wait until they were in a more private setting.

"Right. We're in agreement, then.

"Please come closer to the wall. Everyone will need to join in a circle, but I'll need to keep my hand free to break the stone."

When the others had done as he asked, he made a fist and tapped the stone of the ring against the wall. The blood-stone was brittle, and as it snapped, the hallway dissolved around them.

[To here.]