NIGHT 64: MEDICAL WING HALL

[envy_the_sinners]

_{[From here]}

Looking around, Scar wasn't quite sure what to expect upon this returning visit to the medical wing. It was silent, for now. Scar shined his light around each corner as he moved silently through the room, ready for something to jump out at him at any moment. He wasn't sure of what to expect, but he held his scalpel at the ready with his free hand. It was feeble protection at best, but Scar was a sitting duck without his alchemic arm.

He still wasn't sure if he would actually want it back, though.

Comments

[his_legacy]

Link wouldn't be fooled so easily, either. This man was willing to spill blood. The Hylian felt no sorrow for him, brainwashed or not. The would get him killed. He kept his intense gaze on Lingormr, waiting for him to make a move.

But Sora did, first. Link gasped as the younger boy suddenly pulled at his arm and tried to pull him around Lingormr. What was he thinking?! They should at least try to run in different paths to avoid both of them getting potentially injured. He kept his patience, though, realizing that Sora was doing what he thought was best, and that not everyone was used to acting under so much pressure. He quickly regained his balance, staying on his toes and ready for Lingormr to make a move as he followed Sora.

[complicatedliar]

Loki let the boys run past him; an instant later a second image of him appeared further down the hall. He grasped at the air and seemed to pull a wicked looking dagger from it. "Rude," he said, stepping into the hall to be directly in their way.

"You seem to be a bit unclear on how this works." Loki spun the dagger idly in his hand. "I've a purpose I must obey. I'm a wall. There is little I can do if you insist on throwing yourself upon me, no matter how unpleasant we both find it. So I'd really rather you didn't, all things being equal." He frowned.

From behind the boys, the Loki that still stood there said, "Really I shudder to think what will happen to me in such a case, considering what's already been done."

[lighthearted]

The second that Lingormr appeared in front of them (again?!), Sora skidded to a stop, releasing Link's wrist as he glared at the obstacle. It wasn't that he hadn't expected that; he'd definitely come across enemies that could teleport before, but it was always annoying to deal with.

Except it wasn't just that, because there was actually two of Lingormr at the moment, one in front of them and one behind them. Some kind of illusion, obviously, but that still didn't explain who the real one was.

While Lingormr hadn't made any move to attack them yet, the dagger he was holding made it clear that that could change very soon. If so, Sora was going to have to be ready for it. He held his ground, shaking his head at the man.

"I know how it works, but orders or not, I have to get past you. I'm sorry, but it's important." And Lingormr would have realized how important it was if he'd been in his right mind, but that clearly wasn't the case right now.

Either way, Sora was done apologizing and making excuses. Now it was time to act, and so without hesitation, he took off toward Lingormr, planning to tackle him to the ground so that they could hopefully run past. If one of them was stunned, maybe the second one would be affected too.

[his_legacy]

Link's eyes narrowed as Lingormr seemed to duplicate himself. That, he had never seen before.

He hardly had a moment to contemplate the older man's magic, though, because Sora had just charged him. Bewildered, Link followed suit. He wasn't going to let Sora get himself killed! That blade Lingormr had just pulled from nowhere could easily gut them both, and the mess on the floor made it obvious that he wasn't afraid to do so.

Link aimed his magic torch at the newly formed Lingormr's eyes as he ran at Sora's heels, hoping to give his companion some sort of opening.

[complicatedliar]

Sora simply ran through the illusion, the image shattering into shards of light that quickly vanished. Loki reappeared to the left, and then an instant later to the right as well, then farther up the hall.

"Lacking in finesse," he observed. "Typical."

All three images turned their daggers in their hands, an idle motion. "Not everything is a nail on which you can hammer."

[lighthearted]

That hadn't gone as planned. Sora almost lost his balance entirely when instead of running into someone, he came up against thin air. Lingormr was still projecting images of himself wherever he wanted, which made the whole situation even more confusing. Was the real one even around in the first place, or was this all supposed to be some big distraction?

Well, if Lingormr wasn't going to actively attack them, then that meant they'd just be able to move through the medical wing as they pleased, didn't it?

They were by the exam rooms now. Sora remembered them from past trips he made here, so the X-Ray room had to be further in. He continued down the hall until he reached another door, not paying much attention to any of the figments. If he couldn't hurt them and they couldn't hurt him, then why should he let them distract him?

The door was labeled "O.R. Observation," which wasn't right. Sora glanced over his shoulder at Link. "We're looking for the X-Ray room," he said. "Let's just forget him and keep searching!"

[his_legacy]

Link skidded to a halt when the clone shattered before his eyes. So there was only one real Lingormr. That made things, at least, a bit less dangerous. He continued to follow Sora, ignoring his opponent's taunts and the continued illusions that materialized around him.

While Sora continued to search the doors along the right, Link glanced down a hall to his left. There was clearly a door along the wall, but he couldn't quite tell what it was labeled. He knew that running down there would mean cornering himself, but there was also a good chance that this was the door they were looking for. So Link sprinted for the door, stumbling slightly as he stopped to read.

"This is it!" he called down to Sora as he rattled the handle. Goddesses... It was locked, and Link was fairly certain that there was no key to be found in the near vicinity. Knowing that the real Lingormr could show up at this back at any moment, he desperately bashed at the handle with his flashlight.

[complicatedliar]

"Oh Sora," Loki said, sounding very sad indeed, down the hall behind the boys. "I never pegged you as uncaring, or a coward. I feel quite wounded."

He followed the the statement with a slow, amused chuckle. "But if you're not in the mood to play, I suppose that frees up my knife to paint these walls with someone else's blood."

[lighthearted]

Why wasn't he following after them? Sora barely knew what had happened (he blamed being so out of it from the illness), but Link had managed to find the right door -- and, as expected, it was locked. What wasn't expected was the fact that Lingormr was just taunting them instead of actively trying to hurt them. Sora had never come across a special counseling patient who did this.

Especially since he clearly had hurt someone before them, if the blood was anything to judge by. Unless that had all been one huge illusion too?

"We barely know each other," Sora reminded the man, even though usually he only needed a single conversation to see someone as a friend. Right now, circumstances were different and he needed to hold his ground. "So you shouldn't be pegging me as anything!"

He darted down the hall to meet Link and when there was an opening, banged the back end of his flashlight against the lock as well. C'mon, it had to open!

[his_legacy]

Link had no idea as to why Lingormr wasn't making any move to attack them. His taunts were highly ineffective, and it was obvious that he knew how to use that blade. Why wasn't he?

With a grunt, Link put all his strength into one last bash with his light. The lock snapped, and Link wasted no time ripping the door open, standing back to let Sora in first. This was his mission.

[complicatedliar]

Two illusions of Loki appeared, one on either side of Link and Sora. "Have fun, boys. I'll be waiting for you. Mind that you don't slip in the blood."

He laughed as Link broke the the lock, amused that they were trying so desperately to get away from him. They'd better hope he was still physically distracted elsewhere when they returned.

[lighthearted]

For the moment, Sora had to block out Lingormr's laughter. He realized that if Riku was here, he would have said something about how he'd been right to distrust the man, but Sora knew that Special Counseling was something else entirely. He wasn't going to judge Lingormr for what he'd done, especially since it wasn't much compared to other patients he'd come across.

With the door finally open, Sora rushed inside, hopeful that Link was right on his heels. The other boy seemed to know what he was doing, especially with this being his first night.

[To here.]