Night 58: M41-M50 Hallway

[corvus-veritas.livejournal.com]

[M41]

For the first time that Byrne could remember in the four or five days he'd been here, the night began without any sort of dramatic fanfare. No mysterious intercom broadcast, no creepy static, no doctors coming in to drag him away again, no nothing. Just the usual unlocking of the doors and silence.

The staff were trying to find new ways to scare people, huh? Well it wasn't going to work for this patient. Try being scary all you want. Nothing could match last night's torture session, and he was past that now. See if he cared!

...So he thought to himself as he let out a huge sigh of relief. Oh thank god. Never had he been so thankful to know that night was here. Dinner had ended without anyone coming for him, and he could now be free to seek out the one man he trusted more than anyone else. It was a lucky break. What could go wrong now?

Byrne collected himself mentally, then searched his desk drawer out of habit for that damn flashlight that was never there. It appeared for everyone else, didn't it? They were just screwing with him now, he bet. No matter. He'd survive. The Yatagarasu didn't need flashlights! The light of truth and justice could shine in any sort of darkness...

After yet another inner pep talk, he nodded his head at his roommate and then made his way out to the hall.

Hang tight, Badd. I'll be there soon.

[Skipping ahead to here.]

Comments

[immortale]

"Ah... Yeah," Firo answered. "A lady with reddish hair who looks a little older than me; I thought I heard her voice out here."

Despite not wanting Ennis to be here in the first place, Firo felt a little disappointed at the news that this man hadn't seen her. He glanced down towards the open end of the hall, pointing the light that way just in case he'd missed catching sight of her, but then the full implication of what the other man had said caught up with him.

The first person he'd seen, not 'tonight' but 'in this place'. Maybe he'd just meant the hallway, but...

...No, he was getting ahead of himself and jumping to conclusions. He'd probably just misunderstood, and asking the man to clarify was a simple matter. "Hey, when you said I was the first person you've seen here... What did you mean?"

[vinesofregret]

Hakkai tapped a finger on his lip thoughtfully. "Hmm. No, I didn't hear anyone either. Though if this is illusion magic..." He trailed off, and then blinked, as the other man's question finally fully registered.

"Aha, just what I said. I woke up in that room -" he pointed at a door one down the hall. "-instead of the inn, maybe ten minutes ago. I haven't seen anyone else. I think this may be an illusion-trap, which would explain why you heard something I didn't." Despite the predicament he was in, his tone was still cheerful. He'd faced things like this before - he'd find a way out again.

[immortale]

Firo was getting a sinking feeling about what the man meant since asking for clarification—and that clarification only confirmed it. The guy really was new after all, if he'd thought he was supposed to be in an inn right now and that all of this was just an illusion.

He barely kept a grimace from showing on his face. How was he supposed to explain anything when he didn't fully understand everything that was going on himself? He could repeat the things he'd been told, but there was a good chance he'd leave something important out or wouldn't be able to answer any questions the man had.

"This isn't an illusion. Even if you were somewhere else before, you're a prisoner here now," he stated. There was no good way of putting the situation, so it was best to just put it plainly.

Firo glanced down towards the end of the hall one last time. The new guy said he hadn't heard her, either, but... He couldn't just have imagined it, right? If she really was here, he was just going to lose her trail if he wasted too much time.

He finally looked back at the other man. "I can try to explain, but you'll have to come with me. If that really was my friend that I heard, I need to find her right away."

[vinesofregret]

Prisoners? That begged... well, a number of questions, really. 'How' and 'why' were near the top of the list, and he rather hoped the young man had some slightly more concrete evidence as to the nature of this place. Ginkaku's soul-jar had seemed flawless from the inside, and that hadn't even trapped material form. 'Who' was next on the list - but, ah, there were more pressing concerns for the moment.

"Aha, of course. I'm happy to be of assistance if I can," he offered with a polite smile. He needed more time to analyze the situation - and if the other man could tell him anything useful, it was best for both of them if they worked together.

[immortale]

Firo let out a small sigh of relief at the man's response—at least he was going to be agreeable about coming along with him. He gestured for the man to follow him, and then started down towards the end of the hall.

"There are other people who can tell you a lot more than I can," he said on the way. "But I can at least fill you in on some of the basics."

[To here]