NIGHT 74: JANITOR'S CLOSET (THIRD FLOOR)

[freewill]

[From here.]

Castiel hadn't known for certain where they would end up. Logically, the last place they'd been had seemed like the right choice, but he refused to assume that. That was the best case scenario, after all.

But here they were, crammed into this tiny space once again, where he had originally found these cards that they had officially proved to be keys.

It was a far better outcome than he would have expected.

Castiel pocketed his key and turned to make sure the others were in one piece. There was only one door to go through, so it wasn't much of a question where they'd be headed next.

Comments

[redcladidealist]

It took Lloyd a moment to adjust to the disorientation that the warp pads always brought, then another moment of scanning the room for recognition to sink in, and with it realization. Abruptly his shoulders sagged in relief. "Oh man, that's a relief. I didn't want to go through either of those traps again." He'd mentally steeled himself for the possibility of being electrocuted again and was more than happy to forgo it, but despite the fact that he'd escaped from the vacuum chamber relatively unscathed, he hadn't been so successful at resigning himself to facing it again. The thought of being suffocated terrified him. It wasn't something he could fight, wasn't like pain where he could just push past it. At least the metal door was just a slim thing, with freedom on either side. The vacuum room had been a trap. If the warp pad hadn't worked when it did, they all could have died.

No, he was just as glad not to go through that again. It was hard to tell, but he thought he saw a flicker of relief in Kratos's eyes, too. If so, it was gone in a moment, melting into his usual stern expression.

"Those may not be the only traps we'll face," he warned. "Be on your guard. Landel is likely to have more security the closer we get to places he doesn't want us to be." He followed Castiel, stepping out into the hall.

[To here.]

[ryuuzaki]

[From here.]

And there was the lurch, not fully anticipated in terms of timing and thus a little bit worse for it. He could have done without the nausea, especially on a full stomach, but it wasn't so harsh as to cause him to struggle to hold anything down.

The area they were in was very small; it did not seem to be a trap, although it probably still could be if they weren't careful. He'd waited for Lana on the floor near the door the night before. Stepping on the pad again might take them back to the little metal chamber.

He turned to her, pocketing the card and retrieving his Walther. "So we pick up where we left off."

They wouldn't have to run that particular gauntlet again, but what might be coming?

[fourstonewalls]

"Cute." Where they'd left off was a door back to the main hallway, so they hadn't gained anything versus coming in via the gym. Except for a few moments of awkwardness, since the closet wasn't very big, and the door opened inwards. She waited for him to finish putting things away before she reversed the action -- pocketing her Glock and going back to a normal hold on her radio. Really, with as nervy as they both were, firearms weren't advised. Except for the part where they might be the only thing that would stop them being eaten. Cowgirl up, Skye, she thought, and refrained from smiling. Jake would have found this hilarious -- oh, it was a coping mechanism, certainly, but one she could do with a spot of.

Gun away, she stepped closer to Ryuuzaki, out of his line of fire, and pulled the door open and slipped around it, all without bumping into him.

[to here]

[his_legacy]

[From here]

Link took in his surroundings frantically as he landed in what seemed to be a storage closet of some sort. Cleaning supplies were neatly arranged throughout, giving a much different feeling than the one he was used to during the nights here.

"Sora?" First, though, was to be sure that his roommate was okay.

[lighthearted]

The pad wasn't quite as kind to Sora. He stepped on it as soon as Link disappeared, but it had sputtered and died underneath him, to the point that he'd started to feel the lack of oxygen.

It had felt like having his head shoved underwater and held there, like he was drowning, and Sora had done his best to hold on, to focus not on the burning in his lungs and then the dizziness, but instead on stamping down against the pad until --

Until it worked, and he was beamed through, but while already on the edge of collapse.

So Sora fell straight forward like dead weight, landing on the floor in front of him and unsettling some of the supplies on the shelves around them in the process.

[his_legacy]

Link began to panic when Sora didn't immediately appear beside him. Would the portal work the other way? Link's breath was heavy as he tried to regain it and waited, giving Sora another moment to get through.

Then suddenly, there he was.

Link stumbled, doing what he could to cushion Sora's fall, but it helped little. He moved to pick the boy up, frightened for his life as he tried to turn his roommate over onto his back.

"Sora!"

[lighthearted]

As Sora felt himself shifted around and turned, he blinked his eyes open, but his vision was blurry and his head was pounding as the blood rushed back to it.

He took a few deep breaths, squinted his eyes closed, and it slowly registered that Link was holding onto him.

"Man, that... wasn't fun..."

His voice came out as a murmur, and it was a few more seconds before he was ready to open his eyes again. Link floated over him and slowly became clear. "Let's hope we never have to do that again."

[his_legacy]

Relief washed over Link's face when Sora's eyes opened, when he spoke. There. He was fine.

"Next time, we will find a better way." It wasn't worth that risk again, charging in so recklessly. It had been foolish in the first place, and now look what almost happened. Link wouldn't have hesitated, had he been on his own, but...

What had he been thinking?

"Take a moment to catch your breath." By then, Link noticed that he was still holding onto Sora, but he didn't let go. That had been close. Terrifyingly close. And he had nearly left his friend behind.

[lighthearted]

The thing was that Sora didn't know if there was a better way. Even after they'd been warned, they still hadn't been able to prevent that outcome. The pad they'd needed was in that room, and there was no way they could have changed that.

But it was over now, and each breath he took helped his head to clear a little more. Eventually he grabbed for a nearby shelf and used it to pull himself to his feet, looking over at Link sheepishly.

"Sorry about that. But hey, I guess this another supply room..."

Sora didn't think they would find much of use in the closet, but they may as well look around for all the effort that it'd taken them to get here.

[his_legacy]

Link helped lift Sora to his feet, still warily eyeing him to make sure he truly was okay.

"We ought to have a look around." He turned to face the room around them, quietly thankful that they hadn't been launched into another trap.

That was when their radios went off.

Link jumped slightly, pulling his radio from the loop of his belt and listening to the message relayed. It wasn't common that there was so much as a peep over the speaker, and this was the best news they had received in several days! He looked up to Sora excitedly.

[lighthearted]

Sora was about to start looking over the shelves with his flashlight when his radio also came to life. It wasn't often that they actually relayed messages, and so it took a moment for the voice to register.

"Mr. Kratos! He found it!" Lloyd was probably with him too, they'd made it all the way to the Records Archive! Sora knew they could do it, even if he hadn't been the first one to make it there. That didn't matter.

He didn't even think about asking Link about who should respond. Sora knew Kratos pretty well, and he'd just met Lloyd earlier in the day, so he changed the setting on his radio and replied as quick as he could.

Once he'd finished speaking, he looked over to Link. "What is your world called, anyway?"

[his_legacy]

Link's grin faltered slightly. His... world?

"I don't really know... I'm from the province of Ordon, south of Hyrule, but I've never heard of a proper name for my entire world before." That could be a problem, couldn't it? It was too soon to panic, but what if they weren't able to send his home because he wasn't aware of such a menial detail?

[lighthearted]

As Sora waited for Kratos' response, he considered what Link had to say. Even if he didn't know what his world was called, the two names he gave would hopefully be enough to find something. Sora was sure that Kratos would be able to figure it out.

But then, instead of Kratos' voice responding, it was Lloyd. Sora pulled the radio up to his mouth and spoke back.

Once he was done with that, he started to look around. "Hey, let's see if we can find a pen and piece of paper in here..."

[his_legacy]

Link rummaged around the supply closet, sifting through shelves of supplies for a pen and paper. It didn't take too long. He found a clip board with some sort of maintenance schedule and pen attached, holding it up for Sora to see. It... admittedly took him a moment to realize that the pen *clicked* open, but he placed it to the paper and nodded, indicating to Sora that he was ready.

[lighthearted]

It would have been really annoying if a closet packed with this many things hadn't had something to write on (and to write with), so Sora let out a sigh of relief as soon as Link found the clipboard.

Kratos had already found the coordinates for Destiny Islands, and Sora felt his heart swell up in his chest as he realized he was one step closer to home.

He told Lloyd he was ready and then held the radio closer to Link so that he would be able to hear every number and write them down.

[his_legacy]

Link listened carefully to the radio, scribbling down the code that Sora's friend read off. A small smile quirked at his lips. His hand shook ever so slightly as he wrote. This was it. This was their big chance.

He could only pray that he had enough information for them to be able to find his home. And everyone else's.

[lighthearted]

So there it was, the information he needed to get home put down on paper. Sora smiled to himself, enjoying the feeling of triumph before he remembered that he didn't have any of his friends with him. He was going to have to find them before he could even think about going back.

While he waited for Lloyd to respond with the information about Link's world, Sora started to move through the small supply closet, looking for anything interesting. That was when he noticed two cards sitting on one of the shelves, just like the ones that Lloyd had told him about. "Hey! I think these might get us into the archive, once we make our way over there," he told Link as he picked them up.

[his_legacy]

Link straightened up when Sora announced the key cards. He reached for one in Sora's hand, looking them over as he did so. It was a similar material that he had seen in various places around the Institute, but he didn't know the name for it. This little card could get them into the records archive? Fine by him.

A moment later, the radio went off once again.

He looked back to Sora, frowning slightly. Two Hyrules? No, that didn't make any sense.

"Ordon is part of the same world, yes," Link relayed the information to Sora so that he could explain to Lloyd.

[lighthearted]

Sora had already been told how these key cards worked, so he wasn't worried about it. Instead, he slipped the card into his pocket and continued his search, at least up until Lloyd got back to him about Hyrule.

There were two of them? That was kind of strange, and Sora wondered what the explanation for that could be, but Link didn't seem to have any better idea than he did.

He nodded and let Lloyd know before turning back to Link.

"I don't think there's anything else here that we need. Should we start heading in that direction?"

[his_legacy]

Link slipped the card into his hat, where his other key was also stored. He nodded at Sora's question and reached for the door.

"We'll move slowly until the exchange over the radio is done."

[To here]

[envy_the_sinners]

[From here]

Scar stepped into the room filled with strange machines and equipment. He waited for the door to close, for Lust to follow him inside so that his eyes could readjust to the darkness. He flicked on his light.

"This room is safe, as far as we know. It will bring us to the hallway outside."