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

[forsworn]

They had reached an impasse; it was probably time to start showing interest in the books sitting in the pews. Thankfully, Castiel had managed to somehow give the conversation one last breath of life. Kratos nodded. "Assuming Landel doesn't decide to indulge in a follow-up act tonight, Arts and Crafts will be able to start investigating. It's my understanding that we'll share our findings, if we have any." The chances of success were slim, but trying was better than just standing by--for once, he could actually agree to that.

"What are you planning to do later? Conduct your own search?" Coordinating efforts would probably be useful, especially since they were all on a tight schedule. There was no need to have at least ten people all sweeping the same room.

[freewill]

Castiel paused at the mention of Arts and Crafts. It was something he'd seen mentioned on the bulletin frequently, but he'd never had much interest in it. He couldn't spend his time throwing his support in with a group of unknown patients, not when he had his own goals. It seemed that Kratos was much more selfless in that respect, seeing how he was clearly a member of the group.

Though when Kratos turned the question around on him, he realized that he really didn't have any specific plans. With very little knowledge on how diseases and infections of the human body worked, Castiel didn't know where to start.

"I would, but I'm not very educated in modern medicine," he admitted. He also didn't know how well his body would hold up if he tried to go out at night, between being injured and sick. "If you had any suggestions, I'd like to hear them."

[forsworn]

"I see." Kratos would have assumed Castiel to be somewhat up to date with modern conventions of Earth - he had managed to keep up with the times despite being on a floating comet the majority of the time - but it looked like that wasn't the case.

"My plan tonight was to go out and hopefully locate any information related to the origins of the infection--notes, or a memo...anything that could tell us more beyond the fact that it is able to drastically change a person's physiology. I would hardly call myself a medical expert either, but there are those who can, and if they had more detailed information in hand, it would probably reduce the time needed to suss out the cure." Right now, that list, as far as he knew, consisted of Lingormr, which wasn't promising at all. In times of crisis, though, it wasn't helpful to be picky about one's allies.

He frowned. "If you're not feeling up to it, though, perhaps you should stay in."

[freewill]

In reality, it was hard for him to imagine it. Not heading for the front lines as a proper soldier was so beyond his scope of understanding. Even if he had switched sides and was now part of "Team Free Will," as Dean called it, that didn't mean that the fighting had ever stopped.

No, even if his body was rebelling against him, he would force it to the limit. He wasn't a human, but an angel, and he wouldn't let this vessel dictate his actions.

"Would it be possible for you to take one more with you?" he asked after a pause. "I'm not certain how much help I'll be in this state, but it would sit with me better if I didn't waste the night." Kratos was someone he felt comfortable with, so the idea of spending a nightshift with him seemed feasible.

[forsworn]

[sorry for the lateness!]

Kratos resisted the urge to smile knowingly when Castiel asked if he could come along. If given the choice between staying in and going out, even if it was better for him to take the night off, he would have also chosen the latter. There was just something inherently wrong with remaining stagnant unless totally incapacitated.

"I don't see why it shouldn't be." Unlike Lingormr, Castiel was someone he knew and assumed to be trustworthy. Sora seemed to think he was a good judge of character, which he found to be slightly ironic, so he would probably agree to the arrangement. "I'll ask our leader when he posts assignments later today." With luck, they'd be able to get somewhere tonight; he felt as if he owed Castiel that much.

[freewill]

[Likewise!]

That turned out to be simpler than he'd expected. Castiel had to admit that after what had happened with Orihara, he had scaled back on how much he trusted the people here. He didn't see Orihara as a threat, but he didn't feel entirely comfortable around the young man, either. Kratos was one person who he felt a connection to, however, and so if he was going to work with anyone on this, he seemed like a good choice.

"I'll keep an eye on the bulletin board, then," he said after a pause. "And if you aren't able to put a message there for some reason, we should arrange a place to meet." If he turned up there and Kratos never showed, he'd know that it hadn't worked out for some reason. "What would you suggest?" he asked as he idly worked his fingers into the muscle of a sore spot on his arm.

[forsworn]

Kratos paused as he went through a list of viable locations. He would have said his usual spot, but the point was to arrange a place to meet that would serve as confirmation in lieu of a message on the board.

"I can meet you at your room," he said finally. "That way, if I fail to show, you won't have spent any unnecessary effort. Would that work?" He usually left early as well, so even if Castiel's room was far, he wouldn't be losing too much time.

[freewill]

That seemed suitable to him. He had no problems with giving out his room number to Kratos. In general, Castiel wasn't particularly paranoid about the other patients, as it seemed like the Head Doctor and his minions were the true concern. Kobayashi might feel differently about it, but that wasn't enough to stop him, not when Kratos was offering help.

"It's M39. Hopefully that isn't too far from your own quarters," he said as the intercom went off and the nurses started weaving through the pews to collect them. Castiel stood with some difficulty, though he managed not to wince despite the pain that seemed to be working its way through different parts of his body. "With any luck, I'll see you tonight."

[forsworn]

"Not at all." With no pen on his person, he was forced to memorize the number. but it wouldn't be too hard to do so. In fact, as soon as Castiel had said the number, the chant had started up in his head: M39, M39, M39...

Rising as well, Kratos nodded to Castiel. "Yes, with luck. Let me know if you change your mind at any time. Otherwise, I'll see you tonight as well."