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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Ted realised he didn't actually know where Alaska is, just that it was far away from home, and a most heinous place. Perhaps he should have paid more attention in Geography class; instead of spending all that time trying to think up ways to blackmail Van Halen into joining Wyld Stallyns.

"I woke up here the same way you did," he said. "And I need to get home too. My best friend Bill is there." He sighed. "And I totally didn't get to say goodbye."

But there was no time for regrets now.

"What are you needed for?" he asked.

It finally struck Tolten that his current company - whose name he didn't even know! - had no idea who he was. And past experience had taught him to keep that under wraps in these sort of situations. It was strange - who in the world couldn't recognize his face by now? - but perhaps helpful. People who knew nothing about him tended not to look down upon him, after all. And nothing had changed in a year - he was king of Uhra only when he wore the crown.

He didn't have anything even resembling a crown at the moment.

"People...depend on me," was all he managed to say. And they had both simply woken up in this place with no explanation. What dark and powerful magic had been wrought upon them? And who on earth was this other young man? There were so few royal or powerfully political families left, Tolten assumed he knew all of them. But this rather un-perturbed gentleman didn't appear to be the son of any well known house. Perhaps he was an heir from the wrong sheets. Uhra had very strict protocols regarding that sort of thing, but plenty of minor kingdoms didn't care. But why kidnap a minor bastard heir to some far flung piece of land?

Then again, why kidnap him?

"By our ancestors, who brought us here? Well, regardless, it seems we're rowing in the same boat. I'm sorry, my manners seem to have escaped me. I'm Tolten. And I'm very grateful to have stumbled upon you. How much of this building have you explored?"

Ted gave him a small smile. It would have been bigger had they met elsewhere, but the surroundings and isolation had been a dampener on his usually upbeat mood.

"I'm Ted 'Theodore' Logan," he said, and the smile broke into a grin in a sudden rush of friendliness. "Most people call me Ted. It's nice to meet you too, dude. 'Tolten' is a most outstanding name."

Kind of like Beethoven and Socrates, he thought.

"I came from down that way," he said, pointing towards West Wing South Hall 1-A. "I just got out of my room, and went down these egregiously dark hallways, and then I found you."

Tolten's weak smile widened as name's were exchanged. Perhaps it was silly to be pleased over something so small, but he couldn't help but think it fortuitous that 'Ted' was so close to 'Sed'. And besides that, Ted's warmth was infectious. Tolten couldn't quite say he felt better about the situation, but he didn't feel as terrified and overwhelmed. Apparently luck had taken a shine to him - he'd managed to find a friendly face if not a familiar one.

"Thank you. It's very nice to make your acquaintance. That's...precisely what I did." He chuckled a bit nervously, running a hand through his hair. "I suppose if we just keep going, we're bound to find some way out. It's a building, after all." There couldn't be a building without any way in or out.

Unless of course it were magic....

"Ah...Ted? Are you by any chance a mage?"

Ted blinked. "What's a mage?" he asked.

Mage, he thought. Short for major? But major what...

"A sorcerer," Tolten clarified. "A wizard? I'm sorry, I don't know what you refer to spell casters as in your kingdom." He knew the terms varied from Uhra to Gohtza to Numara, perhaps smaller kingdoms had even more varied terms. He really hadn't been educated in much of anything outside his own country's history. Something which was coming to haunt him now that he'd assumed the throne properly.

"Whoa! You mean... magic?" Ted asked, his face filled with awe. "Where do you come from, dude?"

There was totally no magic where he came from. Just normal life and normal people in the kingdom of San Dimas, California. Possibilities flew excitedly through his head. Perhaps he had been transported to a whole other realm. If there were wizards, perhaps there were dragons, and castles, and totally excellent suits of armor that could ride horses...

"I...I come from Uhra," Tolten said, perplexed. Ted's expression said that he may have just as well said he was one of the extinct flying men! Or...or The Golden Knight himself!

"Is there really any part of the world not touched by the Magic-Industrial Revolution?" He couldn't conceive of that! He'd been from Gohtza to Numara to the Eastern Lands and everywhere in between, and magic energy had been in use everywhere.

But that at least answered the question. Ted was not a mage, so they were entirely magically defenseless.

Ted had no idea where Uhra was, although it wasn't saying much; he didn't really know where Russia was, either, and Russia decidedly existed in his world.

He shrugged. "History is filled with the most bodacious revolutions," he said wisely. "But I have never heard of one involving magic."

Tolten could only stare.

"It...it's happening right now," he managed. "It began thirty years ago...when magical energy surged and human began to develop the ability to harness and use it...." He swallowed hard, feeling as though his world was tipping around him. He had been able to easily dismiss the fact that Ted had made no connection between his country and his name, but he had only been king for two years, on and off. More or less. And while he had broadcast his ascension across the globe....

Well, there were plenty of Uhran's who wouldn't be able to tell you who their king was with a pictorial aide and a stack of that year's coins.

"Where is it you come from, Ted, to have never been touched by the power that has changed and shaped our world for the last three decades?"

Ted stared at Tolten, considering this new bit of information. He'd always been fairly oblivious to world events, but he was sure that anything of the scope Tolten mentioned could not have completely escaped his notice.

"I don't think we're from the same world, dude," he said carefully.

"That's ridic...."

But Tolten trailed off. It wasn't ridiculous. It wasn't ridiculous at all. He knew full well that other world existed, he'd been somewhat exposed to one already. He knew absolutely nothing of the world the Immortals had come from, only that it was very different and difficult to cross between. He hadn't understood a word of Sarah's explanation - a great deal of water powered energy was needed, or something to that effect - but he grasped the basic concept. There were multitudes of worlds, linked together by energy lines, and it was possible to travel between them.

But how had he managed it? He had no ability for magical energy at all! And all of the Grand Staffs had been destroyed. Hadn't they? Oh gods, how many were there truly?

Panic was encroaching and Tolten took a deep swallow of breath to try and keep it at bay.

"All right. I... well...." He glanced helplessly at Ted, not sure how to proceed. If he had no magic, certainly he wasn't from the Pure World. "I suppose that greatly opens up potential answers to the question of 'where are we'?'." It also at least gave Tolten a goal. This was something he had some experience with.

"We need to find a mage," he said. "I have...friends, I suppose you could say, who are very knowledgeable about these sorts of things. And all of them are mages. From what I understand, it requires a great deal of magic energy and power to create doors between worlds. Though why were we brought here...?" He shook his head. "At any rate, I would be very pleased if you would accompany me in this search. I don't know where we are or how we've come to be here, but I doubt it's entirely safe."

And besides that, he didn't want to be alone. And Ted was friendly and seemed to possess a terribly good spirit.

Ted nodded. "I'd most definitely join you," he said. He could totally use company in this place, especially one who seemed to have more idea about how to proceed than he did.

He had no idea why he was brought here, either, now that the military school theory wasn't holding up. He wasn't anyone particularly important as of yet; well, technically, he and Bill were going to save the world one day, but that was still far off in the future. And if that had really been the reason, then Bill would have been taken with him.

Unless he had, and Ted just hadn't found him yet...

He didn't know whether to hope for that or not. On one hand, he missed his best friend, and they'd probably stand a much better chance of getting anywhere if they were together. On the other hand, if this place were going to trap him forever and lead to his death, he didn't want Bill to have to share that fate with him.

And Tolten was agreeable enough company in the meantime.

"Do you think your friends are here?" he asked.

"I don't know." Tolten took a few steps deeper into the hallway, not certain if he should take the lead or not. He supposed he had every right to - for goodness sakes, he was a king! - but he had never been much of a leader. Of course, neither of them knew where they were or how to get out.

"I certainly hope so, as terrible as that may sound. They know...well, somehow they always seem to know precisely what to do. Even if it seems ridiculous and idiotic at the time, somehow it's the exact thing needed to save us all." How Jansen Friedh of all people had been gifted with that particular knack, Tolten would never know. But at this point he would pray to all the saints that Jansen was bumbling about in these halls. There was no greater mage Tolten knew of outside of Her Majesty. But if any of them were here, they'd be in a better state.

Even the children were more competent than Tolten himself.

Ted followed after Tolten, more than happy to let him take the lead. There wasn't any possibility of them getting more lost than they already were, after all.

"Then we should totally try and find them," Ted said.

And hopefully they would.

"May I ask you what your world is like?" Tolten ventured, heading off with what he hoped was a purposeful stride. "The only other people I've met from another world didn't remember theirs." And he was curious. What were they like, these other worlds that were out there somewhere?

[to here (http://damned.livejournal.com/1109536.html)]

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Night 56: Main Hallway, 1-West

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