damned_institute | Night 56: Main Hallway, 1-West

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Night 56: Main Hallway, 1-West

[From here.]

He had reached the meeting point in less than a few minutes and there was still not another patient to be seen. Castiel paused, standing near the wall as he moved his flashlight up and down the corridor. There was nothing, not the sound of a shadow slipping through the dark; not the whisper of something less than human.

The only sound was the static that periodically came from his radio. He couldn't seem to get it to let up, and he wondered if it was reacting to him or if he'd been given a faulty one.

He would have preferred the former option, but he had been knocked down too many notches when it came to the loss of his abilities, his divinity, the very things that made him him.

Castiel let out a breath that had been caught in his chest and then lowered his flashlight. He wondered how long this whole process would take, but he supposed that all depended on how well he did as a student. He fashioned himself a fast learner, but he had never been able to grasp things like popular culture.

He imagined he would do a bit better with lockpicking, though. Leaning himself against the wall, Castiel stood there quietly, waiting for Orihara to show himself.

[For Izaya.]

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[From here (http://damned.livejournal.com/1105167.html?view=78144527#t78144527)]

The halls were mostly empty, much to his relief, and he felt a little better about moving with a little less care for remaining hidden. Any 'monsters' would doubtless hear him long before he arrived anyway.

[To here (http://damned.livejournal.com/1109536.html?thread=78141216#t78141216)]

[From here (http://damned.livejournal.com/1104269.html?thread=78173325#t78173325).]

Ah, yes, Byrne remembered this hallway. This was where he had bumped into Rei two nights ago. Oh god. She was another person he needed to see again...and thoroughly apologize to, as well. If anything was possible here, then she certainly could have 'seen' into his mind that night like she'd claimed she had been able to. But when she had told him about it, he'd thought her to be crazy and probably made her dislike him for it. Apologies would have to be made. Lots of apologies.

But that was another thing entirely. Badd was going to tell him the rest of the future now, wasn't he? Oh god. Oh god. The stairs were up ahead, so Byrne started heading towards them. "I don't remember exactly where you left off before," he admitted, "so feel free to pick up wherever you feel is best." It was all bad news anyway, except for the parts about the smuggling ring leader getting caught. He might be focusing only on the worst parts of the story, but that was ridiculously easy to do right now.

Where had he been? Right, him planning to turn himself in at retirement.

"I did what I could for seven years. Little Thief vanished, I didn't know it wound up with your daughter, and even with that crazy gadget I couldn't have run the Yatagarasu by myself. Meanwhile, Yew manages to insinuate herself into the Zheng Fa branch of Interpol, Cohdopia has a civil war and splits in two, Manfred von Karma gets indicted for murder, and Kay finds your diary and decides she wants to be just like Daddy." And a hell of a lot more, but trying to summarize all the changes that had happened in the past three years, let alone seven, would take all night.

Even as he rambled Badd kept himself sharp and on alert, fingers occasionally brushing the sharp-edged shard of glass in his pocket. Those weapons really were a priority. Even a splinter-ended broomstick would be some defense against the boogeymen.

[To here. (http://damned.livejournal.com/1111315.html)]

Returning to the main hall for the second time since he found himself within the walls of the institute, Facilier took a moment to observe his surroundings. The area was filled with fluttering lights and the shifting shadows of their wielders. Most of the patients were hushed, nervous and swift to reach their own personal goals; others were foolishly loud and attracting too much attention to themselves, Facilier frowned at the offending persons and kept his rail-thin figure close to the shadowed walls. He wasn't going to be caught by any dangers as easily as those folks...!

Facilier turned the corner, his long legs stretching and bending far ahead with him with foot steps as soft as a heart beat. After a few more steps down the wall, Facilier's torso caught up with his lithe legs and he paused once again, eying the long stretch of the hallway before him yet also glancing towards the staircase leading to the second floor.

He allowed his flashlight's luminous beam to hang down to the floor as he pondered over his options. Keep on ahead and risk getting attacked by some crazed character in the Sun Room, or go upstairs and risk getting attacked by some other insane feature the institute had to offer? Which would lead him to supplies and useful tools? Blast it! If only he had a map...!

Chewing on his lip, Facilier's mind compared his only two options, both with results as shadowy as his own living Shade. His blackened form remained tall and nearly motionless in the darkness, like some out-of-place column built into the wall.

Which way to go...? If only he had a coin or his tarot cards to aid him in this decision...

Heading through the block door, Celty quickly went into the main hallway and turned her torch around at the whole area. She didn't see any cats, or any sign of Depth Charge either, but there were some other patients around. Thankfully none of them were getting attacked by anything either. Good. Yes, that was good. And wherever Depth Charge actually was, she hoped that he wasn't getting harmed any either.

After giving him a quick prayer and clasping her hands appropriately, she shone her light down towards the middle hallway and began heading in that direction.

Patients of various sizes and shapes went past the shadowy Bokor, none of them really catching his eye as he continued to weigh his options and the possible dangers of each one. His living Shadow was completely merged with the darkness, but when one stranger in particular passed by, its crooked shape shivered, stretching a long-necked head out from the blackness towards the woman in question.

Facilier felt it as well. Something outer-worldly was caught by the doctor's magical instincts, even if it were just a small sense of intuition that perked up in his Shadow's spine. Either way, the stranger seemed to know the place more than him, and anyone who could be of use whether by guidance or magic was always considered a necessary asset to the witch doctor.

Like a statue coming to life, Facilier silently removed himself from the wall with the same fluidity as blackened oil seeping away from water. His Shadow followed suit, and the doctor made sure to adjust his coat and hat before carefully approaching the woman from the side. His foot steps were nearly as quiet as the Shadow that glided behind him; he didn't want to scare his target too much...

"Pardon Moi...?" Facilier spoke, raising his flashlight and tipping his hat to the stranger he followed, "Forgive me for any intrusion, but I'm at a bit of a loss when it comes to finding my way 'round these parts," he said as his Shadow returned to an inconspicuous shade upon the floor behind its master, "You seem to look like you know where you're going, and I wondered if perhaps you could direct me to somewhere useful...?"

Before she had moved too far in the direction of the entrance, she heard a voice near to her. She didn't actually understand the language at first - was it French? She recalled Shinra had tried speaking French once while being all lovey-dovey, but she'd ignored him for being not only annoying, but confusing. Regardless, she didn't think that anyone other than that man would address her in French and nearly kept walking past the man.

Then he spoke in English, and definitely to her. Confused, Celty looked back to double check, then when he'd finished asking for her help raised a finger to point at herself. I look like I know where I'm going? she thought, wondering if the man's eyes might have been playing tricks on him in the dark light.

[from here ()]

"The only thing to remember here is that no one is looking out for you but yourself," Ritsuka said as they entered the next hall. "People forget here. They don't mean to, but they do."

It was easy to be forgotten when everyone who knew you left. It was just as easy to be left behind and be turned into unintentional monster bait. The patients fought tooth and nail and those who didn't seemed to be in the extreme minority. Even the spandexed heroes had wanted to kill the thing that had attacked Ritsuka. There was no place for pacifism here, even if he clung to it still.

"...I guess that's harsh to say." His own feelings about what the radio had said and what had happened recently were mixing him up. He hated that. "Just, be careful. People come and go here so quickly, it's hard to rely on anyone."

"I don't know if I can rightfully say anythin' about shit like that, bro. I can't even get my remember on for most things a lot of the time." Granted, there was a big difference in his forgetfulness as opposed to that of those who'd disappeared and been returned, but he didn't know any better.

He followed alongside Ritsuka and eventually began taking the course Rose had led them on the night before. They were going to the same place, after all, so as far as he knew this was the best way to go.

> ==>

[from here (http://damned.livejournal.com/1104269.html?thread=78133645#t78133645)]

With so many people around, Dexter had to wonder if his gloves would draw attention, but the hallway was dark, and everyone was busy on their own paths. He doubted one more person would draw too much comment, gloves or not.

Especially when so many others looked so... unusual.

Questions that would better wait until the morning, when there wasn't anything better to do with his time. At least not yet. For now, Dexter had the night to himself and he didn't intend to waste it.

[to here (http://damned.livejournal.com/1106999.html?thread=78222135#t78222135)]

Edited 2011-06-13 03:45 (UTC)

[From here]

The walk from his room to the hall was quiet, and Izaya kept a careful eye out for Castiel all the while. Despite his efforts, however, he'd almost overlooked the man, who was waiting silently by the wall. Once he had spotted him, Izaya turned on his heel and made his way towards the other.

"I almost didn't see you there," he said in an attempt to be affable. He considered adding something like 'I hope you didn't wait long', but there were bounds to his own veneer of civility—and if Castiel had waited, all the better; it would just show that he was willing to wait.

But this was business, and tonight, Izaya would get straight to the point without playing around with Castiel first. "Unless you've rediscovered your ability to teleport once more, we should head for that lobby."

As more and more time had passed, Castiel had started to grow concerned that he had been forgotten. Or, more likely, that something had happened to Orihara that had prevented him from making their meeting. It was difficult for Castiel to be patient these days, both because humans had rubbed off on him and because the end of the world was nigh. It was hard to relax or wait quietly when he was still of the belief that it could be stopped if he only acted fast enough.

And yet here he was, waiting for someone to show up and teach him how to pick the lock on a door.

The hallway, which had been nearly empty when Castiel had first arrived, slowly filled up with different patients who met up and then headed off together. Still there had been no sign of Orihara, and the angel became more and more tempted to simply wander off on his own in order to make something of his night.

But then, finally, the human appeared. He didn't acknowledge his lateness and simply suggested that they get moving. Castiel wanted to ask him why it had taken so long, but that would only waste more time. Instead, he gave the man a quiet frown and then nodded.

"We'll have to walk," he said by explanation, not interested in small talk at the moment. He took off down the hall, expecting Orihara to keep up with him.

[To here.]

[From here (http://damned.livejournal.com/1104269.html?thread=78027661#t78027661).]

The moment that they moved into the main hall, Zack took a moment to search for any sign of Tifa. She would most likely be coming down this way unless she decided to go out onto the field, so it was worth keeping an eye out. He didn't see her anywhere, though, which meant they were going to have to move closer to the female block.

Of course, the reason that Zack knew that area so well was because he'd come this way with Cloud once before, but it had been prior to his memory loss and they'd been looking for Aerith, not Tifa. Even though they'd searched all of the rooms in the block, they hadn't found her -- and that had been that.

Except for that one time when he'd seen her briefly after that. He almost forgot it had happened because they'd only exchanged a few words and he hadn't seen her again afterward. The whole thing was kind of bizarre, he had to admit -- at least Cloud had stuck around after coming back.

He just hoped that Aerith was all right, and that his silence wasn't standing out to Cloud.

Zack had touched on something that Cloud was thinking about also as they moved on down the hall, that Tifa may have already gone off somewhere else. He couldn't really say where, though, not having had the chance to ask her in Doyleton or on the bus ride back what she had planned for the coming night.

Probably, she'd be looking for a weapon if she didn't have one already or -- remembering their conversation at the restaurant -- an escape route. She'd mentioned, too, that everyone else had been here before, that it was just the four of them left now. It made Cloud wonder who else had been here before, if it'd just been the rest of AVALANCHE or others as well.

As they stepped into the next, much larger corridor, he realized that they'd been walking in relative silence. He'd been too busy with his own musings to take proper notice of this before, but now that he had... well. A glance at Zack, who was quieter than normal. Cloud knew he himself wasn't much for talking, but for Zack, this silence had a something different about it.

Then again, it could be just the atmosphere of the situation they were in rather than something bothering his friend. Either way, Cloud didn't know whether he ought to ask about it or not. As they neared the middle of the hall, he finally settled for a quiet, "Something on your mind?"

It seemed that Zack had gotten caught up in his thoughts for a little too long, seeing how Cloud had noticed. He could have passed it off as focusing on the task at hand, but it wasn't as if they were doing anything that dangerous at the moment. Cloud probably would have accepted that kind of answer nonetheless, but that was exactly why Zack didn't feel comfortable giving it. He couldn't lie to his best friend.

More than that, Cloud and Aerith had gotten to know each other after Zack's death, which meant that Cloud deserved to hear about this. "I was just thinking. Aerith was here, before, just like you were. When we hadn't seen her for a while, we went to the female rooms to search for her."

And while he was sure that Tifa was just fine -- she'd been a constant during his short stay here so far -- it was still similar enough to that night that it brought back all of his feelings from that time. He still had no idea where Aerith was, but the fact that Cloud had come back made him pretty confident that she was all right.

"We didn't know her room number, though, so it took most of the night," he went on to explain. He didn't know where he was going with this or how Cloud would even react, but this was part of the whole "catching up" plan that they made. Holding back a sigh, Zack turned right as they reached the fork.

[To here (http://damned.livejournal.com/1105943.html?thread=78244887#t78244887).]

"No, we are not going to find out what they make that disgusting mash with," Gant growled, traversing the busy hallway with ease. He was getting used to this place. One week. That's all one needed to feel completely at home in Landel's institute for the soon-to-be insane. If you weren't crazy before, you would be soon enough.

"Our mission," the chief continued, moving them along swiftly, "is far more important."

Uh oh. The Police Chief seemed mad right now. Not a good sign! Perhaps Meekins said something wrong? He'd better try to watch his words from now on!

Trotting close behind Gant, Meekins swept his flashlight through this new, much larger hallway. More people but still no one he recognized. Although... there was a striking red-headed woman heading towards a staircase. Though Meekins couldn't see her that well from the distance, she seemed to move with such fluid grace as Ms. Angel Starr. Maybe... that was her? But now was not the time to find out; as Mr. Gant said, he was enlisted on a mission! An important mission!

"But what could be more important than knowing what's in that gruel, Sir?" Meekins had a theory, but from his superior's expression, he decided that asking him if they were going to use it to throw at the mean soldiers wasn't in his best interest at the moment.

There were dozens of things that could be more important the contents of the pink gruel. Gant could name a pretty damn long list right then and there, but he hadn't the time. Finding a swimming pool would definitely be at the top, along with finding the true mastermind behind this place and schmoozing a sweet deal out of the man (or woman, if that happened to be the case), but really, now was not the time.

Gant rushed them towards the center of the hall, steeling himself for whatever was to come.

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Night 56: Main Hallway, 1-West

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OMIGOSH, I COMPLETELY FORGOT ABOUT THIS THREAD! I'M SO SORRY!

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SCREAM, I'M SO SORRY /sob

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