Day 64: Cafeteria (brunch)

[gald_digger]

Well, that went well! Anise had gained herself a gorgeously handsome new friend. She just hoped that weird illness didn't get either of them killed before she could get to know him any better.

... Yeah, that was morbid. It was hard not to think about, though.

Before going to the Cafeteria, Anise made a stop at her room to grab her journal, maps, and a pen. Once she finished eating, she could get a start on copying the maps for Barnaby. He was going to be so glad he met her!

With that done, Anise made her way to the Cafeteria, where she picked up an assortment of food, making sure to get some meat, vegetables, and milk on her tray. She then sat down at a table and set her notes aside while she started on her meal. It was hard not to feel self-conscious about the rash on her arm, though the makeup she used had blended the discolored part enough that it couldn't be seen from a distance. Anise just hoped no one would come specifically looking for it.

[Ilia!]

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[fonichymn]

For once, all of her nightly questions had been answered by daylight, but unlike most times, progress came as detrimental to the one named Tear Grants. Not only had Dr. Landel concluded the night on a rather suspicious note, but an incident had placed every Doyleton visitor at risk or possibly worse. Judging by the reactions on the bulletin board, one individual had let his heroism get ahead of himself, and while Tear was more than willing to write a diatribe in regards to his behavior, she had people to seek out.

In truth, the Melodist also felt the fluttering signs of anxiety over her unusual sleep schedule. Though Renamon had assured her some time ago that the signs were not necessarily a definitive path to being released, Tear could not help the emotion. One never enjoyed the idea of losing one's identity, after all.

Tear could, however, stifle it in favor of duty. By the time she had caught the sight of a familiar blond at the cafeteria entrance, she had donned on her serious face. Any evidence of uncertainty were wiped clean from her expression.

"Thank goodness," she breathed. "Is everyone all right?"

[nobleman]

While Guy hadn't necessarily been expecting to see Tear first, she was definitely the one that he'd been most hoping to come across. Oddly enough, her relief seemed to mirror his. Guy didn't think he'd been off the radar in any sense, but it was probably all a matter of perspective.

"Tear," he greeted, moving just a few steps toward her before halting, still a safe distance away. The smile on his face was going to have to give her a decent enough idea of how happy he was to see her. "I should be asking you the same thing. We were wondering about you."

The problem was that he couldn't answer her question with complete truthfulness without getting into Anise's illness, and that wasn't something he wanted to spread around without her permission. Guy was sure that Anise was going to warn everyone soon enough, but she probably wanted to do it on her own schedule.

So, with that in mind, he went for something vaguer. "I was with Anise and Luke last night, so they're accounted for. At this point, though, I think we'll have to assume that Natalia is gone again." They'd given the princess more than enough time to show herself -- if she wasn't gone entirely, then she was being held somewhere. The thought was upsetting either way, but Guy knew it was better to face the facts.

[fonichymn]

The relief shown was reciprocated, causing Tear to wonder the exact extent of the damages she had missed last night. Two aspects, however, stopped her--the first extending the emotion to Luke and Anise while the second working to oppose it. She had wondered if the lack of Natalia's presence meant the worse, and Guy's words had just cemented the prospect.

In truth, it was very troubling to consider. Tear had witnessed firsthand what the institute could do to a mind, and to imagine the princess of Kimlasca-Lanvaldear living her existence as someone else was far too disturbing for her tastes. Furthermore, there was little the group had in terms of options. They could only continue and hope for either a safe return or an opening for a rescue.

Tear exhaled slowly, long enough to gather her thoughts. Thankfully, the initial comment proved easy to respond to, despite how terrible it might sound to another's ears. "I overslept yesterday," she admitted, attempting to appear indifferent in spite of the growing flush, "and came to a nearly empty institute. More likely than not, I missed the trip to Doyleton. I'm sorry for worrying everyone."

She paused, nodding once to acknowledge the situation with Natalia. Unlike other times, however, the Melodist pressed forward. As stated, there was nothing else to be done. "I'm glad everyone is all right, though," she continued. "When I read about what happened, I almost thought..." The sentence trailed to awkward silence. Who could say what she almost believed?

[nobleman]

So it had just been a case of oversleeping on the wrong day, huh? Well, that explained why none of them had seen her around Doyleton. Guy wasn't too concerned by the reasoning behind it all, so long as he knew that Tear was all right now -- and she seemed to be in perfect health at the moment, thankfully.

"It must have been strange for you to wake up to things being almost completely abandoned like that," he said. Guy wondered if Tear had come to during the daytime or if it had been after night had already started. Either way, the effect probably would have been the same, except that it would have been much more disconcerting at night.

Still, Tear had clearly handled everything with the normal amount of competence Guy had come to expect from her, so that was the upside. When she trailed off in that cryptic way, though, Guy frowned and regarded her more closely. "Thought what?" he asked. While they hadn't had the calmest of nights, it actually hadn't been that bad in the grand scheme of things.

[fonichymn]

Strange was an overstatement. Traversing through vacant halls proved to be more unsettling than Tear had anticipated. If not for her typical approach to less-than-standard circumstances and basic logic, she might have let the emotion affect her state. "Strange, yes," affirmed Tear. "I'm almost grateful to Dr. Landel. Without his announcements, I might have been left without any explanation." The details of why did not need to be explained.

Ironically, this brought her to what had been left unfinished. "...Thought the worse," she concluded with a heavy sigh. "I probably have him to thank for that as well. He made two broadcasts last night--both referencing the accident and a 'surprise' in the entry room." She paused suddenly.

"Actually, Guy, did you ever reach the entry room last night?"

[nobleman]

While Guy was curious to hear more from Tear (especially about these announcements and what had apparently been waiting in the entry room), he couldn't ignore the fact that they had been standing here for a few moments while he was clutching a tray full of food. For that reason, he started moving them toward an empty table even as he spoke.

"So he was broadcasting to a mainly empty institute? I guess I shouldn't be surprised by that." They all knew that Landel just loved to hear the sound of his own voice, so it probably hardly mattered to the man if he had an audience or not. In a way, though, it was a good thing that Tear had been left behind, since now she could report back on things.

Once they reached a table, Guy sat down and grabbed for his bagel, taking a quick bite. The salmon touched his tongue and he resisted the urge to close his eyes in pleasure. "We didn't make it inside," he said after a pause. It was pathetic that they'd been unable to even get that far, but Guy was trying to focus on the fact that they'd remained more or less uninjured. "Did you get there?"

[fonichymn]

It wasn't until movement that Tear realized they had stood for some time by the cafeteria entrance. The detail normally would have been passed over as inconsequential, except Guy happened to have a food tray in his possession. After shooting the man an apologetic glance, she followed him to the table and occupied a seat.

Despite the detour, she continued answering Guy's questions. In her option, they were crucial enough to be addressed without pause. "Yes," replied Tear, "though there must have been a quite a few left in the institute as well." Otherwise, the Head Doctor likely would not have bothered with an announcement. Either the man needed a specific message addressed, or he was an extreme narcissist.

She would hardly be surprised if both proved to be true.

With a shake of the head, Tear laid both hands across her lap, fingers clutching the cloth absentmindedly. "I didn't make it to the entry room." An unfortunate fact of the night, but something she was slowly learning to swallow down. "If one of the bulletin notes is correct, however, it may have involved the deaths of two people."

[nobleman]

Guy hadn't realized that so many people were left behind for the Doyleton trips, but it probably included anyone who slept in. The question was why they overslept in the first place. It seemed like something that Landel had specific control over, so he was essentially deciding who came along and who didn't. There was probably no way of pinpointing why, so Guy tried to leave the thought alone.

He took a few more bites of the bagel, enjoying the fishy taste that come with each one, and wondered if Tear was planning to get herself some food. He was about to encourage her to go do so, but that was when she mentioned two possible deaths.

It wasn't like death wasn't common here, but that didn't make it any easier to hear about. Guy frowned and set down the second half of his bagel. "Do you know who? Were the monsters responsible?" It wasn't like anyone had been given an easy time last night, and those birds had been vicious. Guy wouldn't be surprised if they'd torn some people to shreds, even if the thought was almost enough to ruin his appetite.

[fonichymn]

[Sorry for the delay.]

Tear's expression disintegrated into one of severity, and she found herself staring down at the table, eyes vacant. It was a terrible thing to ruin another's appetite, but the situation could not be remedied. Besides, Guy had to understand what was happening, regardless of anyone's comfort. "A pair named Renji and Daemon, I believe," she said, enunciating each name slowly for clarity's sake. Neither rang as familiar to her ears; perhaps one of her teammates knew of their identities.

In either case, there was no choice but to continue. "I don't know the cause of their deaths, but it seems people found their bodies in the entry room." Tear paused in consideration. "One of the witnesses is the leader of the Arts and Crafts Club. We might be able to get more information from them."

[nobleman]

Renji and Daemon... While the names did sound vaguely familiar, Guy was certain he hadn't met either of them. If he knew their names, it was because he'd read them on the bulletin board at some point. Of course, not knowing them didn't mean that the news was any less upsetting. For all the death that went on here, Guy didn't think it was common to just come across corpses like that.

When Tear mentioned the Arts and Crafts club, Guy paused for a moment before thinking it over. "I guess we could, but is there really more we need to know than what you've already found out?" Prying about the deaths of two people was bound to hit some nerves, after all, and he didn't know that they would get much out of it. "Still, if you think there's something more to the story, you could try looking into it." Tear would probably have better luck with that than he would, seeing how she had a pretty face.

[fonichymn]

The question posed a legitimate concern. The line separating truth and propriety was thin; it could be troublesome to investigate a death that may bring more pain to the survivors than was necessary. At the same time, however, Tear could not be satisfied with the scenario as it was. "There may be nothing more we need to know," she admitted. "I just don't like how their deaths became a public spectacle without any clue as to what might have happened."

Obscure murders only served to strengthen the injustice committed toward the victims. Guy should understand the concept well enough, considering their recent experiences in Auldrant. "I might try," Tear concluded, determination set on her face, "if only to bring peace to the victims." A more decent end than mere announcements.

And who knew? Perhaps the story could serve to be useful in the near future.

[nobleman]

With the way Tear put it, Guy couldn't really argue. He could understand why she was bothered by what had happened, and he had to acknowledge that his death, at least, had been kept secret. In many ways that was frustrating because no one could ever be warned of what was at the end of that basement route, but at least he didn't have people wandering up to him asking about it all the time.

Still, he would have endured that if it meant he could stop others from following in his footsteps.

That was neither here nor there, though. "If we could somehow make up in some small way for what was done to them, that would be good," he said after a lengthy pause. "I'll leave it to you for now, but let me know if you need anything, all right?" Tear had been handling herself just fine so far, but Guy wasn't going to let her stray too far either.