Night 73: Main Hallway, 1-Center

[freewill]

[From here.]

It wasn't unusual for Castiel to make it to the meeting destination first, and so he didn't think much of it. Deciding to make the best of his time spent waiting, he moved toward the opening into the Sun Room and peered inside, even using his flashlight to illuminate at least part of the area.

But there was nothing out of the ordinary, which didn't answer much of anything, seeing how it always appeared that way whether there was a guard waiting in the wings or not.

Tempting as it was to step inside and scope out the situation, that could put them in the exact same position as they'd ended up in last night. And so Castiel shifted away from the open doors and leaned himself against the wall, casting a glance back down the hall. They shouldn't be much longer...

[For Kratos and Lloyd.]

Comments

[forsworn]

[from here]

Kratos continued on in near-darkness until finally, he came to their usual meeting spot. Unsurprisingly, Castiel had made it there first, and although he didn't see Lloyd, he wasn't too concerned: Lloyd had promised that he'd be swift, and Kratos tended to take his son at his word.

He made his way over to Castiel and nodded in greeting. "Evening." Somehow, he couldn't help but remember the way things had gone last night and the secrets that had been unfortunately revealed. With no Lloyd in sight, there was the possibility that Castiel might decide to suddenly have more things to ask him, and that admittedly made him feel...slightly uncomfortable.

[redcladidealist]

[From here.]

Kratos was saved from having to answer any questions from Castiel when soft, but not entirely muffled boot steps announced Lloyd's approach just before he rounded the corner and entered the hall. The teen's flashlight reflected on the two waiting men and he blinked. His father was wearing a uniform he didn't think he'd ever seen before. It was completely outlandish, but still strict and severe. Absurdly, the thought crossed Lloyd's mind that it was weird to see Kratos wearing only one belt.

"Da- Kratos. Castiel." He came to a stop, feeling awkwardly conscious of his strange, mismatched clothes. The white shirt with the large, red number one, the gray pants, his red boots and gloves, the tool belt strapped around his waist - even with a sword in his hand, he suddenly felt much less intimidating than either of these two men.

Of course, that was nothing new with Kratos. Dammit, it still bugged him that he felt like he'd never measure up.

He tried to squash the feeling, gesturing toward the Sun Room as though there was nothing wrong. As though he hadn't almost called Kratos something else. It felt wrong to deny what Kratos was to him, but sometimes he still wasn't sure what that was.

"You guys ready to go?"

[freewill]

Kratos and Lloyd arrived one after the other, and Castiel pushed off of the wall, nodding to them both in greeting. He noticed that they'd dressed differently than the night before, and after a moment of confusion the reasoning for that clicked.

There was that room they might have to get through again, the one that required them to remove all metal to pass without injury. Kratos in particular had an outfit that made that a laborious process, so Castiel could understand why he'd resorted to the military uniform.

He had no idea where Lloyd's clothing had come from, but it hardly mattered. They were all here, so they needed to move on.

"Yes," he said before turning his attention to the Sun's Rooms open doors. "Move quickly and stick close together," he added firmly, almost an order, before he led them all inside.

[To here.]

[ninelivesonce]

[from here]

The doors to the Sun Room were standing open, and Taura risked a quick recon job from the doorway. Nothing -- no-one -- attacked her, which was a good sign, but they still had a long way to go. Plus, most of the doors upstairs were locked; even knowing which room they needed wasn't going to be enough.

[Rita!]

[lighthearted]

[From here.]

They were getting close to the Sun Room now. Sora saw one other patient waiting around, a lady who was very tall, but other than that they had this hallway to themselves.

All they had to do was cross their fingers that there was no one guarding the Sun Room tonight. That wasn't very likely, Sora knew, but there was nothing wrong with hoping for it anyway.

He looked over his shoulder to make sure Link was close behind them and then paused a few feet before the Sun Room doors.

[his_legacy]

Link was close behind, taking in Tsurugi's words as he peered into the Sun Room. There were no exterior signs of a struggle, but he of all people knew how deceiving that could be. He wasn't about to charge in when he had others traveling with him.

"Passing between realms and times is rare in my home," he offered quietly, "but I have done it."

[knightspirit]

"... In a manner of speaking," Kyousuke affirmed. "It's a long story, but my friends and I traveled through history to take back something important to us." He'd thought he'd more or less told Sora that when he'd talked about meeting Okita, but apparently they hadn't been on quite the same page. "It's also possible to go to parallel worlds, if you have the right artifact. We even manged to enter the world of a storybook, once."

... Barely, but that was a whole different story. He was surprised, though, to hear that Link had similar experiences. It was hardly something common to experience, yet all three but he of their group had, even outside of dealing with this place. He wondered if that meant something... But he wasn't sure he'd find an answer to that.

In the meantime, he fell silent, leading the way into the Sun Room.

[ to here ]

[fourstonewalls]

[from here]

There was only one person in the hall now -- a tall woman, flanking the doors to the Sun Room, clearly waiting for someone else. She woman gave them an encouraging go-on gesture -- either it was safe, or she was waiting for someone else to trip the trap before going through herself. Either way, someone would get past, though someone bristling with weaponry and prowling the hall like a cat would have been Lana's first choice, rather than the two of them, but they were both here.

She did switch on her radio, to the open channel, so that if they were ambushed, she could get a warning out quickly. Then she turned to Ryuuzaki, and started a silent countdown with her fingers. Three...two...one...go.

[ryuuzaki]

A glance at the papers Lana handed him showed L that very little of it was anything new: a copy of the makeshift map that had been posted on the bulletin board, a note almost identical to the one he had received (including the change in objectives between the first and second set of instructions), and so on. The only thing that stood out was the note from the third patient's belongings, which told him a little more about what the rebel group was planning.

He let the papers fold back in on themselves and stuffed them in his pocket, then switched off his flashlight and followed her towards the Sun Room. With her eagerness to move, it would be her problem if he wound up bleeding all over the notes later--there was no time to place them in the backpack, where they would be more protected.

They reached the door, where the tall woman had settled in after passing through the other corridor, and he drew his gun from the holster. Pistol in the right hand, dark flashlight in the left, Lana counting on her fingers.

Getting through the Sun Room easily would be a minor miracle. He felt the heightened tension in his body--the tautness caused by anxious adrenaline--along with a small extra twist of loathing for Landel. He really did hate being forced to work this way.

[To here.]

[rebonding]

[From here]

The doors to the Sun Room were in sight. Korra checked back to Tsubaki, making sure she was still tight on her tail as they approached the open doors. No sign of a struggle yet.

That was either very good or very bad.

[thecamellia]

As they grew closer to their destination, Tsubaki resumed focus on Korra and the road ahead. Moment of truth time!

She nodded to Korra, listening hard for any kind of clue as to what might be happening on the other side of the doors. Last time, they'd hurried in and been surprised; this time, they needed to be prepared. She pressed her ear against the wood, searching the darkness beyond.

"It's quiet," she commented. That was probably as good as they were going to get, wasn't it? She nodded again, signalling that she was ready to go ahead.

[rebonding]

Just then, the intercom chimed on.

Korra stopped abruptly just as she was about to push into the Sun Room, listening with a surprised frown.

"All hands on deck, huh?" She glanced to Tsubaki, her face grim. "Sounds like we've got company."

[thecamellia]

Something had been bound to happen sooner or later. The intercom cutting through the silence of the night seemed like a premonition of the worst, and Tsubaki lifted her head absently, drawn out of her concentration by the tension in Landel's voice.

The second floor?

"They must be here," she breathed as Korra said much the same. She dropped her gaze back down to the other girl. "Nobody said anything about the second floor! While we're focusing on the third floor, they must be striking a different area at the same time."

Basic strategy.

[rebonding]

"Good point. We keep moving to the third floor. Especially since he was stupid enough to call everyone to the second floor. This is our shot." Unless it was a trap. But...

They had the opportunity, they had to take it. This could very well be now or never.

Without a moment's hesitation, Korra darted into the Sun Room.

[To here]

[envy_the_sinners]

[From here]

"Has any of you managed to gather further information?" Scar asked as he made his way toward the open doors of the Sun Room. There was no obvious sign of a struggle, but anything could be waiting for them in the dark.

[armoredsoul]

"Not other than the note I showed you," Al said, digging it out to hand to Ed and Lust for them to look at as well.

[fullmetalheart]

Ed looked at Al's note and shook his head in answer to Scar. "No. Only talked to Lloyd and, um, that girl from the other night and they had other things on their mind at the time."

And he had successfully kept to himself for the rest of the day.

[a_sin_for_him]

"No, nothing." Lust shook her head. "I'm afraid most of those who shared information with me are...no longer among us."

Beyond these three here, and perhaps one or two others. It was miserable, how little they had to go on. And how few others there seemed to be, these days.

[envy_the_sinners]

He had suspected as much, but it had been worth asking. Lust had a point; it was obvious that there were fewer and fewer patients remaining. That Ryusei boy, X's friends... and now that he thought about it, he hadn't even seen Lingormr crawling about in a few days. Was Landel weeding them out as the pressure on him grew?

Why, then, were the four of them still here?

Scar was just about to cross into the Sun Room when the intercom chimed on. He scowled, looking up to the speaking installed in the hallway. What were the rebels trying to sabotage? The power limiter? Something else?

"What do we do now?" He had no doubt that they would count as rebels as well, and though part of him knew that there was nothing else to be done...

Charging into this blindly would end a disaster.

[armoredsoul]

Al looked up and grimaced, his fist clenching as they stopped short. "...we should keep going. We'll just have to be careful of anyone sneaking up on us."

Or anything, with those creatures that wander the night-time halls. But they couldn't just stop here with what was at stake; they had to take Landel down and get home, stop all of this from ever happening to anyone again.

[fullmetalheart]

Ed also looked up. "Maybe they're messing with the stuff for experimenting on people."

He really, really hoped so. While what was done to him was fuzzy, it was still enough for nightmare material.

[a_sin_for_him]

"We can't be certain of anything." Lust shook her head. "Alphonse is right. We keep going and exercise more caution than normal, there's nothing else we can do."

Perhaps, if nothing else, any distractions that occurred elsewhere would make their progress easier.

[envy_the_sinners]

Scar was silent for a moment, eyeing the group before peering into the Sun Room.

"Keep close, then. And watch one another's backs." Both givens, he knew, but he felt he needed to say it anyway. He briefly considered bringing up the idea of turning off their lights like he and Lust had last night, but... how well could it work for a group of four? They would be relying entirely on Lust's eyes, and floundering around in the dark in some foolish chain would only leave them vulnerable.

He slipped silently into the Sun Room.

[To here]