DAY 64: CHAPEL

[skeletonenigma]

This time, when the darkness faded and the next thing Skulduggery became aware of was that same bed underneath him, he didn't take the time to absorb the jarring feeling and sort out what might be going on. He leaped off the bed immediately, almost stumbling in the process - damn balance - and took a moment to realize that his eyes were burning and he could barely see a thing.

The room was blinding. The light itself wasn't an issue; it was the fact that Skulduggery's eyes had to slowly adjust to it, a sensation he hadn't experienced in ages and had never expected to experience again. He had a hand pressed to his forehead and was blinking rapidly when a woman knocked on the door and came in.

She was... cheerful. Everything was cheerful, from the bright light and noises outside to the intercom announcement that interrupted the woman's sudden spiel. It was such a startling change from just a few minutes ago that Skulduggery found himself lost for words while the... nurse... nodded brightly at him. She'd said something about a mental hospital, something about a man called Erik, and something else about 'not real' and 'getting better.' With Skulduggery's mental prowess - even operating at less than its usual efficiency - it was easy to work out what she meant.

He studied her openly once the light wasn't so blinding. "You're either a very convincing liar, utterly insane, or a psychopath. Let me find out which one." His head tilted. "Would you believe me if I said there was a woman last night who had been mortally wounded, but who was still walking around?" He cut her off before she could answer. "No, obviously not. And I don't think you're a psychopath who murders people for fun. A convincing liar, then. That doesn't clear anything up in the slightest, but I suppose it's something."

"Mr. MacAuley, you were sleeping all of last night. Are you sure you didn't just have a nightmare?"

Skulduggery wanted to point out that as a skeleton, he didn't sleep, and he certainly didn't have nightmares. The blurriness at the edges of his vision, however, reminded him with a jolt of his mysterious transformation to human. Suddenly, annoyingly, the nurse was making much more sense.

Was it... real, then? Everything with Yomi and the chapel - had that all just been a vivid hallucination? Had his entire life just been a vivid hallucination, like the woman was insisting?

In a slight daze, Skulduggery asked to see the chapel. He was standing there alone now, examining the fountain carefully for any sign of its demonic visage from before. But now it was just a fountain, the water was just water, and despite Skulduggery's best efforts, the water didn't respond to his Elemental magic. It remained stubbornly in its basin without so much as a ripple, silently mocking him.

Skulduggery sat down heavily on one of the pews, mystified. He wasn't insane. He joked sometimes that he was, and it might partly be true, but he wasn't insane on a level like this. He didn't just make up his whole life as he pleased.

[Free! But be prepared for a barrage of questions.]

Comments

[gald_digger]

She was safe. That was the first thing to come to mind when Anise awakened that morning. The creatures that pursued her and her friends through the forest were far behind them now.

Of course, she wasn't completely in the clear. The rash on her hand had spread up most of her forearm. A quick search led to the recovery of the shopping bag from yesterday, from which Anise grabbed the make-up tube and began applying it to her arm. In the end, it couldn't hide all hints of discoloration on the skin, but the redness had been paled enough that it wasn't too obvious. At least no one would see it from a distance.

A nurse arrived soon after she was finished, and Anise cooperated as she was escorted first to the Sun Room for a quick stop at the bulletin, then to the Chapel. Though Anise had given up on any hope of being rescued from the institute through divine intervention, the atmosphere of the room reminded her of home, and that was reason enough to visit there from time to time.

Upon entering the room, she immediately spotted Claude and Ilia, who both appeared to be in one piece. That was good to see. But they were involved in their own little conversation, and it'd be rude to butt in, so Anise began to make her way to the front of the room instead. On her way, however, she caught a glimpse of a handsome man's face... then stopped, took a couple steps back, and looked again.

With his eyes closed, Anise was able to steal a much longer look than was normally polite. His face really did look like that of a storybook prince, though. Anise wanted to try talking to him, but he looked like he was resting, or maybe meditating... Maybe she'd just be bothering him.

But then again, what kind of heartless monster would reject the company of a poor little (cute) girl like her? Batting her eyelashes, she took another step closer and opened with a timid-sounding, "Um... excuse me. Is it okay if I sit here?"

[baniichan]

With how closed off he made himself appear, Barnaby had been hoping that no one would approach him just yet. Still, Dent had warned him that would be difficult to get much time to himself as long as he was trapped here. With the way the nurses structured every minute of their day, that was probably what their captors intended.

Well, regardless, there was no point in sending the young girl away. His assigned nurse was watching him closely, for one thing, and she seemed invested in the idea of him making "friends". As long as he was at a disadvantage, Barnaby had no intention of giving himself a bad reputation with the staff. Not only that, but it was difficult to tell whether anyone was from Stern Bild from a simple glance. Even if he wasn't working as a Hero anymore, Barnaby had poured a lot of effort in maintaining his clean, polished image. He wouldn't give it up so easily.

For that reason, he opened his eyes and turned his attention onto the shy girl standing near his seat. She couldn't have been much older than 14 -- maybe even about Dragon Kid's age. Barnaby's mouth curved into a polite smile, his expression deliberate and well-rehearsed.

"Certainly," he answered in an even tone.

[gald_digger]

“Thank you!” Anise cheered as if that had been a victory in itself, and with a light giggle, she plopped down into the space next to him. It was hard to tell if he appreciated her being there, but at the very least, he seemed to have excellent manners – which was a very good sign in Anise’s book.

Not wanting things to fall into quiet awkwardness, Anise went on to ask the man a few questions, hoping to get the wheels of conversation rolling. “So, what’s your name? I haven’t seen you around that much… Are you new?” Maybe she could use some of her veteran knowledge to keep him interested.

[baniichan]

Barnaby straightened his shoulders as she settled down next to him. This girl, apparently, wanted to chat. Very well, then. Maybe he could glean some new information from her, especially if she'd been here longer.

His small smile never dipped.

"Barnaby," he answered. "Barnaby Brooks, Jr." As tempting as it was to ask whether she'd heard of him, he figured her reaction would likely speak for itself. "This is my fourth day here."

As he got a closer look at her face, he realized he'd at least seen her in passing here and there. She'd never given him much of a reason to pay her much attention, though. Of course, that wasn't necessarily bad.

"And you?" he asked, more for the sake of politeness than anything else.

[gald_digger]

Barnaby. She'd make sure to remember that. It wouldn't do to forget a handsome man's name!

"I'm Anise!" she replied cheerfully when her questions were reciprocated. "I've been here for, oh..." She stopped to count on her fingers. "... a little over five weeks, I guess? Eh heh." It was starting to get too depressing to keep track.

As she looked the young man over, Anise caught a glimpse of something she hadn't noticed before sitting down: a rash on one arm, much like the one she had. Her smile faded for a moment when she recognized it, but she quickly recovered it. It was hard to think about what the implications of that mark were, but fortunately, putting on a smile under any circumstances was precisely the kind of thing Anise was good at. She'd pretend she never noticed.

"You're probably getting the hang of things by now, huh? If there's anything you're not sure about, though, you can ask cute little Anise here! I'm practically a veteran!" She beamed, looking pleased with her little self-advertisement.

[baniichan]

As he'd thought, no hint of recognition crossed the girl's face. She'd never heard of him.

"A pleasure to meet you," Barnaby told her with a slight incline of his head. Although he wished he wasn't here, he knew that basic social graces could go a long way with securing a business deal. The same could be said for forming a useful informational network.

Anise said she'd been here for at least five weeks. He wasn't sure whether that was considered a long time within Landel's, but he suspected so. With how dangerous this place could become, it wouldn't surprise him if a lot of people here met an unfortunate end one way or another.

If that was the case, though, he couldn't help but wonder what Anise had done in order to stay in one piece for so long. The "cute" front she put up very well may have been a survival mechanism. After all, no self-respecting adult would allow anyone or anything to harm a young, bright, pig-tailed girl.

There was also the fact she'd been targeted by the institute in the first place to consider. It was possible she was a NEXT, or at the very least had connections to influential people.

Not that he had a strong opinion about it one way or another. Whatever Anise's methods, they'd clearly served her well for over five weeks. It was just a reminder that there was probably more to a lot of people here than what met the eye.

At any rate, he realized she'd caught a glimpse of his rash, but seemed determined not to show any anxiety she might have felt about the mark on her own arm. Barnaby could understand that. He wasn't inclined to share his deeper thoughts or fears with someone he'd just met, either.

"That's kind of you to offer," he said with another deliberate smile. "I'm still trying to adjust to my surroundings. Since the bulletin is heavily monitored, things like a detailed map can be hard to come by."

[gald_digger]

From Barnaby’s polite mannerisms and the way he spoke, Anise could feel it: this was definitely a guy with a good upbringing. And a good upbringing usually meant a wealthy one.

“A map?” she echoed, tapping a finger against her chin. “Oh yeah, the ones on the bulletin have been pretty lacking in details… but I can help with that!” She was beaming again, glad that she already had an opportunity to be useful… and to hopefully make a good impression on this guy.

Unfortunately, she didn’t have the maps on her just then, having swapped them out of Tokunaga’s sack for some emergency first aid supplies. But she could still offer to help! “I’ve got some good maps back in my room. If you want, I can make some copies and give them to you later!” It would be a little out of her way, but there was a chance it'd pay off for her in the long run.

[baniichan]

It only made sense for a five-week veteran to have a better map than the one Barnaby managed to scrounge up on the bulletin board. He'd been hoping that Anise would offer to share anything she had. Of course, Barnaby also realized he'd be indebted to her to some degree, but he wasn't foolish enough to try to put together a map of the entire building on his own. That could take days, maybe even weeks when he considered the shortened nights, potential dangers, and weakened powers. Such energy would be better spent on trying to find a way out of here, and there was nothing wrong with making use of the information others had compiled before him.

Still, he knew it wasn't polite to immediately jump on the offer, so Barnaby decided to keep up social niceties for a little longer.

"Are you sure?" he asked with faintly raised eyebrows. "I realize a lot of people have their own plans, and I'd hate to impose." Of course, he'd imposed the moment he'd told her about his little dilemma, but Barnaby had no intention of wasting an opportunity to learn something new about the institute.

[gald_digger]

"Of course!" Anise assured the man with an eager nod. "We have to help each other out if we want to get through all the scary stuff that happens here. I'm sure you'd do the same for me, right?" Well, no, she wasn't sure, which was why she dropped a line like that - to see how he'd react. Putting someone on the spot once in a while was a good way to bring out their true colors.

"There isn't that much to do during the day, anyway," she went on to add with a shrug. "We just go wherever the nurses lead us and try not to get in trouble. It's nice to have little projects to work on sometimes." That much was the truth. The monotony of the day shift usually either led to severe boredom, or to nonstop worrying. A few distractions could keep her anxiety in check until she could finally deal with the problems at hand. If she didn't indulge in those once in a while, Anise feared she would end up with wrinkles in her early adulthood. And that would be horrible.

[baniichan]

Thankfully, a man of his profession was used to being put on the spot, and he remained poised when Anise threw that question at him. "Of course," he echoed her words with ease. "This isn't a competition, after all. There's no reason to withhold information from each other."

Besides, he suspected if Kotetsu caught wind that someone like Anise needed help, his paternal instincts would go into overdrive, and he'd drag Barnaby along for the ride anyway. Not only that, but she did have a point that there was little else to do with their day. Networking with other patients for more information and taking care not to draw too much unwanted attention to himself were Barnaby's largest priorities while the nurses were watching them.

"True," he agreed. Then, he offered another polite smile, as if she'd convinced him to accept the offer. "In that case, I'd appreciate a copy."

[gald_digger]

He didn't look bothered at all, and he didn't even hesitate a little. All in all, Barnaby seemed to be pretty skilled in the arts of social graces. Maybe he was a politician, a big-shot merchant, or some kind of public speaker...

"Sure thing! I'll get it done in a jiffy," Anise promised him with one of her cutest smiles. If she put a little time in here and there, she was sure she could get it done by the end of the day. He'd be really grateful for that, wouldn't he? And he'd owe her a favor, to make things even sweeter.

But now that they had an agreement and she'd successfully broken the ice, it was time to get into what Anise was really interested in. "So, Barnaby, what do you do? Back home, I mean." Knowing someone's job was normally a good way to guess at where their income stood.

[baniichan]

She was certainly being agreeable, which hopefully meant she could get the maps to him sooner than later. Lifting his shoulders, he offered a more pronounced, although just as deliberate, smile. He'd made a similar gesture many times in front of the cameras, so his movements came across as smooth and natural. "Thank you for the offer."

When Anise asked about his job, Barnaby didn't hesitate in answering. "Before arriving here, I worked as a Hero," he explained. Even though it would likely sound outlandish to people who were unfamiliar with how society worked, he felt like he had more to lose by lying about who he was. "We protect the city from criminals, and our efforts are broadcast on live television for everyone to watch."

He studied Anise for a moment, gauging her reaction. "I don't suppose you've heard of Stern Bild before, have you?"

[gald_digger]

"A hero!?" Anise had been secretly making tons of guesses at Barnaby's occupation, but that sure hadn't crossed her mind. Was that even a real job? She wasn't sure if this was a hit or a miss when it came to pinning him for a rich guy.

And he mentioned 'television,' which Anise felt like she'd heard somewhere before... but she understood the 'broadcast' part, at least. She knew a lot of real-life heroes, but many of their most amazing deeds went largely unknown. It looked like Barnaby's society made sure that such people got all the recognition they deserved! That didn't seem like a bad deal - except that in Anise's case, that much publicity would end up exposing her not-so-good deeds as well...

Anise shook her head when asked about something called 'Stern Bild,' but she couldn't stop herself from answering with more of her own questions. "So you just save people, and that's your job? If everyone can see it, does that mean you're famous?"

[baniichan]

Anise had only confirmed what Barnaby suspected all along, so he didn't bother to ask anymore questions about his home city. Instead, he turned his attention to the girl's questions.

"Saving people is the most important part, yes, although there are other aspects to it as well," Barnaby replied. But now wasn't the time to talk about paper work, damage fines, record deals, or photo shoots, so he refrained from going into details. "As for whether I'm famous...well, I suppose everyone back home knows my name. My rank was number one, and I received the King of Heroes title."

There wasn't any supposing about it, but he maintained a simple, modest tone as he spoke. For one thing, it was true he never would have gotten as far as he had alone. For another, it was much more effective to let the facts speak for themselves.

[gald_digger]

Everyone knew his name? The King of Heroes!? Jackpot.

“Wow, you’re number one!? And you get a cool title like that!? That’s amazing! I never thought I’d get to meet a big celebrity like this!” Anise practically squealed, squirming in her seat with excitement. But then she remembered she was in a chapel, and she quickly quieted down, looking around to see if she’d disturbed anyone. “Oops.”

Before she could press the man for more details, however, the intercom sounded, announcing the shift change. For a split second, she flashed a scowl at the speakers, then looked back to Barnaby with a sweet smile.

“I guess we have to go now… but I promise I’ll bring you those maps soon! Ooh, and maybe when I do, you can give me your autograph!” She giggled as she stood from the pew.