Night 74: West Wing, Hall 3-A

[forsworn]

[from here]

By some miracle, the very door they had been seeking was immediately to their left. Kratos found himself double-checking the wording on the sign posted next to the door to confirm that yes, this really was the Records Archive. After so many nights spent wandering through rooms and physically straining himself in ways that were incredibly healthy, it was just a little anti-climatic to turn the corner and find exactly what they were looking for.

"Finally," he breathed. He tested the lock out of formality; as he'd expected, it held fast. Above the door handle, though, was a little black slot - a card reader exactly like the one that had graced the door to the third floor and many others in Welgaia. Castiel seemed to be in charge of the keycards, so Kratos stepped aside to allow the angel to unlock the door.

Comments

[redcladidealist]

Anti-climactic or not, Lloyd felt only relief and budding excitement when his eyes caught the words on the plate by the door. Even the lettering looked like a match for the faded and worn letters on their cards. This was it. They'd finally made it somewhere. They could finally get something done. He danced impatiently from foot to foot as he waited for Castiel to open the door.

"What do you think will be in there?" he asked, unable to hold himself in silence anymore. "There's supposed to be something in there that'll help us get home, right? Do you think it's in a book? Or maybe it's a gate like the Otherworldly Gate! Maybe that's how they got us from our worlds!" He didn't remember going through any such gate, but he could explain that flaw away easily enough. He'd been sick with the poison (or whatever it had been) that he still suspected Yuan had somehow given him. It wasn't surprising he couldn't remember what happened.

The thought that they might be so close to the way home, though, made him want to rush forward and try his key. In the back of his mind, he was already forming plans for how to break the door down if for some reason the key cards didn't work. A well-placed Beast, or maybe if Kratos his the lock with a fireball to weaken the metal right before Lloyd struck it with his sword. Or maybe they could...

He waited, tense, almost holding his breath, to see if he would need any of those plans after Castiel slid his card through the lock.

[freewill]

Castiel also found himself almost underwhelmed when they turned the corner and the room they were looking for was sitting right there, unassumingly.

He wasn't one to question good fortune, though, and considering how much they'd already been through, he'd say they deserved it. He wasn't sure why he'd been given the job of operating the keys when he was just as deficient with technology as Kratos, but he chose not to question it.

Castiel might not be as outwardly excitable as Lloyd, but that didn't mean he wasn't tense as he stepped up to the door and slid the key card inside. This was it, the moment they'd been anticipating. Inside this door was apparently their key to get home.

He didn't delay, and didn't bother answering Lloyd's questions when they were about to see for themselves. As soon as the door beeped and unlocked, Castiel led them inside.

[To here.]