damned_institute | Night 64: M11-M20 Hallway

It wasn't as though Tolten could ignore the (no longer just) implications. But regardless, there was work to be done. And while he felt miserable, he was certainly still very much himself now that night had fallen.

He was not about to allow this place to break him. He knew he was a rather soft and sometimes timid thing, given to strange fits of emotion and often questioning himself. But he also knew he was the last son of Uhra, blood of the ancient golden knights, containing all the strength of of his holy ancestors. He bent and bent but he would not break.

Fueled more by anger than anything else, the young king took up his pipe - he would give it to Locke, as he'd have a sword now - and headed into the hallway.

He didn't allow himself to consider the possibility of Locke not meeting with him tonight. The other man had never failed before, he certainly wouldn't now. And they would go to the Medical Wing and try and decipher the only clue they'd been given.

Failure was simply not an option.

[to here]

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Hakkai awoke with a start to that now-familiar emotionless voice singing over the intercom again. He fumbled for his glasses on the bedside table out of instinct, and only then realized he was most definitely not where he'd passed out. Not that this was unusual here - though for once he could actually remember passing out, instead of the more abrupt transisions this place offered. His memory was hazy, but he could remember the buses stopping as night started to fall, and monsters attacking them. He had been fighting back, but his strength had been sapped somehow - evidently to the point where he couldn't keep up.

It was dim in the room now, and even without windows, he was fairly certain it was night. He wasn't sure, however, whether it was the same night, or whether he'd slept through the day entirely somehow. His sense of time was a mess in this place, and he still felt tired and lightheaded. He had half a mind to just roll over and try to get some more sleep, but a mix of curiosity and anxiety nagged at the back of his mind. Now that he was awake, he wasn't going to be able to shake it so easily.

He sighed, very slightly, at himself, and pushed the covers aside quietly. He'd try to find Gren - the other man might know what had happened on the buses, and they could always see what else was in the basement. Gathering his usual things, he slipped out into the hallway to head to the room just down the hall from him

Edited 2012-06-22 05:02 (UTC)

It didn't take very long for Gren to gather up his things for the night. He was traveling fairly light, though he still carried the shovel with him. It was a little unwieldy, but it was the only weapon he had. The announcement had him a little concerned--it was hard to say if the information was genuine help or a trick--and after last night, he wasn't about to divert his own plans for something that might be a trap. Doubtless, someone would go investigate. He'd leave it to them.

He was barely out of his door when he spotted a familiar figure. Good... he'd been hoping he'd be able to catch Hakkai before he set out in earnest.

"Hakkai," he called out, waving a bit to catch his attention.

Hakkai very nearly jumped at the sound of his own name - he managed to catch himself before doing anything to undignified, but he was more on edge than he had thought, apparently.

He gave Gren a small wave in return. "I was just coming to find you."

"I take it you're on for another evening of subterranean exploration, then?" He smiled a little, hoping to make light of the situation they were caught in. Things were a lot more tense than they'd been just a day or two ago, and it was hard not to feel the pressure.

He was going to try, though. His pride kept rebelling at the notion that this place might drag him back down and undo him completely. If this place was going to take him, it'd have to fight for it.

"Ah, that too," Hakkai replied with a slightly sheepish smile. "But... I blacked out during that fight with the creatures on the bus. I was hoping, ah, that you remembered a little more." Like what day it was, but he didn't want to admit he'd gotten that confused outloud.

"You okay?" Blacking out didn't sound good at all. He looked fine, anyway... he supposed the same thing that had happened to Edgar had happened to Hakkai--once they were unconscious, the monsters lost interest.

"There were more creatures waiting for everyone out on the road," he replied, and if he sounded a little tired, it was because he hadn't wanted to think about it again, and here he was, telling it for the second time. "They didn't have a lot of interest in me, so I managed to make it past them, but it wasn't pretty." To put it lightly.

He didn't want to talk about what had been waiting for everyone in the entry way. He had a limit for casually recounting horror, and he'd reached it for the moment. "They're definitely not playing nice with us anymore."

"Mm, I'm fine. Just pushed my powers a little farther than I should have. I wish I had been able to do more to help, though." If he had used his other powers... but then, that may have been what Landel had wanted him to do. A worried expression flitted briefly across his face before it smoothed to his usual calm smile.

"I'm glad you're alright, though."

"Yeah, can't be helped, I guess." His own failure to stick around and help the patients who were under attack still nagged at him, though he knew there wouldn't have been much he could do. A voice in the back of his head that wasn't his own said it was pointless to worry about them. They were nothing. He shoved it and the lingering guilt away and tried to concentrate on the present.

"Yeah. I'm fine. You up for an excursion, or would you rather take it easy?" The basement would still be there tomorrow, after all. ...probably, anyway.

"I'd like to explore some more, I think - if you're up for it." Gren looked a little worn out - not enough to really worry Hakkai, but if the other man wanted to take it slower, he'd concede.

"I think I've rested enough for today myself, aha." And some exploring would take his mind off of worrying about the announcements and the monsters and and how close his own demons were to the surface, and how easily everything could go so very, very wrong.

"Yeah, I'm good to go." As good as he was ever going to be, anyway. The only good thing about this place--he never had to worry about not being able to sleep.

At least this would give him something to focus on, aside from just how screwed they probably all were. It was seeming more and more like whoever was really in charge just wanted them dead in various and creative ways. This way, it felt like they were doing something, even if it didn't get them anywhere in the end.

Hakkai nodded. "Do you have your ring...?" If it could get them down there faster, so much the better. He still hadn't found a decent set of lock picks, and the walk through the darkened halls felt particularly intimidating tonight. Whatever was weighing on his mind felt like it was weighing on the atmosphere, too. And the rash on his arm had only gotten worse, though thankfully the darkness hid that.

"Yeah," he replied, holding up the hand with the broken ring on it. "But it won't do us any good until we can get back down there and reset it," he added apologetically. If he'd realized the thing was actually going to come in handy, he would have broken it ages ago, and he could have set it the last time they were down there.

Hakkai's face fell for a brief moment at the prospect of making their way through the maze of the dark halls again. He pulled his usual careful smile up again, though, hoping Gren hadn't caught his disappointment.

"Well, then. We should get a move on before it gets any later."

Not that it likely would have been any consolation, but Gren wasn't too keen on the idea either. Still, if they succeeded in their goal tonight, they wouldn't have to face that problem any more.

"Good idea."

He hefted his shovel again, though he didn't expect much trouble this close to the patient rooms, and headed down the hall.

[To here.]

Edited 2012-07-01 05:06 (UTC)

Night 64: M11-M20 Hallway

M13

[From M16]

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