Clearing the last stretch of hallway, Link arrived at the door to the medical wing. Taking a steadying breath for whatever might be waiting for him, the Hylian gave the lock a good bashing with his light before pushing it open.
...Oh, Yomi was effortlessly perfect. He remembered, somewhere inside of him, how much he had loved her that night in the hardware store in Doyleton. How she had looked, covered in blood and beautiful. This was nothing like that, but it was a similar sort all the same. How the inhuman interact with monsters and men. It was a show and a sensation, all the same.
Albedo bit his lip slightly, and looked back at Yomi--only she, close as they were, would be able to see the amusement in his eyes. Otherwise, he was the perfect child trying to be brave--trying to understand and make sense of the mess they were in, by any means necessary.
At least the latter half of that sentence was truthful. Perhaps the man should have paid more attention to the weapons and less to their visage. Monsters worn the skin of men for ages past, after all. Still. It only proved helpful. It wasn't as if Albedo was depending on a long conversation.
Yomi provided a starter, and Albedo accepted her ruse. He glanced back to the man, trained eyes running over his form and figure. "There're... some patients... Some who are sick. They start attacking people." Albedo's eyes widened to show how extreme that was. What an irony. "Are you sick, too, mister... um?" The boy continued, a hesitant prompt for a name.
Hopefully, in response to that, Albedo would have the two items needed. And this ruse would end as quickly as it started.
"Byrne," the prosecutor answered at the boy's prompt, concerned and confused eyes darting back and forth between him and the older girl with him. For kids that were armed better than anyone Byrne had ever seen in this place (the girl even had a sword that he just now noticed - and never mind those shotguns), they sure seemed to be frightened regardless of their current state. Not that Byrne could really blame them. Just the idea of normal people becoming bloodthirsty, otherworldly monsters was downright unsettling even to an adult, never mind a child. It was worse not knowing who exactly was going to change. They had every right to be wary.
But even so, he certainly didn't want them to get the wrong idea about him. "I'm...well. I'm not one of the people Landel said would change tonight." I hope, he kept to himself. He smiled, attempting to look as reassuring as he was hopefully sounding, but the weariness on his face and the rash on his arm were as clear as day. Saying he was ill would only be stating the obvious. Yet, he was avoiding verbally confirming what the kids were fearing. Better to not upset them more than they already seemed to be.
"Anyway, are you going to look for the second clue, too?" It took a bit of willpower to ask that question and not 'where the hell did you find two shotguns?', but it was better to see what they were doing and if they needed any help first.
All they needed now was a games show buzzer and an announcer to say, "We have a winner!"
Yomi tilted her head. Strangely enough, the man probably would have been safer had he been one of the five scheduled to transform. One didn't need to be a rotting carcass of a monster to start attacking people in the halls; Landel had seen to that with his offer to Albedo.
And despite the reddened skin on his arm, and the obvious tell of illness, the man claimed to not be one who would yet change. Well. That made everything quite simple.
Of course, Albedo could go after patients who were already shifted, but the fine doctor had said infected patients, and it was simpler to bring down a human man than it was for an unknown beast. "I'm afraid not," the boy said, with a complete change in tone. The unsurity was lost, given way for an eloquent type of speech, mocking around the edges, that sat strange on a twelve-year-old. A hand went up to the grip of one shotgun, the other hand untying what was keeping it in place.
Nigredo had given him that nice little pistol, something more familiar to be sure, but Albedo knew his weaponry like any good soldier. At this range, a shotgun blast, a scatter spray of pellets pummeling the form, would be easily fatal with no regeneration. And the simple solution, in this case, was the one the entity chose.
The gun was pointed at the man almost languidly, a familiarity with the weapon easy to see in his stance, despite the size. "I have other things in mind, though-- Take heart," he said, smiling brightly, an inhuman display of teeth. "You'll be cured of your illness after all."
This was partly her fault, wasn't it? All of it. The complete and total lack of empathy, the detachment, the hush right before a life was snuffed out. She had had a hand in this, even if her role had merely been to say nothing when she should have spoken up.
However, should have was different than could. In a way, it made sense that she would balance out doing something good with doing something terrible. The sesshouseki had to keep the scales balanced.
And she couldn't... she couldn't do anything to stop it.
The shotgun fired, rattling her eardrums, but Yomi didn't so much as blink as the man's body jerked under the impact.
At first, there was confusion. (Yes, more than Byrne was already feeling.) The boy's expression and tone changed from insecure to oddly unsettling in an instant. And then, a moment later, there was a shotgun being pointed directly at him by a boy who clearly knew how to use it properly. A boy who was once scared but was now smiling, his levels of unsettling rising to alarming levels.
Byrne should have questioned that arsenal out loud before anything else. He should have been more suspicious. He shouldn't have believed that no patient would ever single him out for slaughter like this, especially not a child. But he'd made a serious mistake - one he would never be making again, as the deafening sound of the shotgun confirmed.
The situation turned on him too quickly to allow for any sort of proper reaction. No time for any meaningful last thoughts beyond Is he really about to--. Just an explosion, and then darkness. Any pain the prosecutor might have felt from the blast didn't last long, either. The powerful spray of pellets that tore through his body - blood - his final startled gasp of breath -
He barely recognized any of it, if at all.
And then, the force of the shot having knocked Byrne off his feet, he fell backwards to the floor, eyes remaining wide open with shock and fear. And just like that...that was it.
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no subject
Albedo bit his lip slightly, and looked back at Yomi--only she, close as they were, would be able to see the amusement in his eyes. Otherwise, he was the perfect child trying to be brave--trying to understand and make sense of the mess they were in, by any means necessary.
At least the latter half of that sentence was truthful. Perhaps the man should have paid more attention to the weapons and less to their visage. Monsters worn the skin of men for ages past, after all. Still. It only proved helpful. It wasn't as if Albedo was depending on a long conversation.
Yomi provided a starter, and Albedo accepted her ruse. He glanced back to the man, trained eyes running over his form and figure. "There're... some patients... Some who are sick. They start attacking people." Albedo's eyes widened to show how extreme that was. What an irony. "Are you sick, too, mister... um?" The boy continued, a hesitant prompt for a name.
Hopefully, in response to that, Albedo would have the two items needed. And this ruse would end as quickly as it started.
no subject
But even so, he certainly didn't want them to get the wrong idea about him. "I'm...well. I'm not one of the people Landel said would change tonight." I hope, he kept to himself. He smiled, attempting to look as reassuring as he was hopefully sounding, but the weariness on his face and the rash on his arm were as clear as day. Saying he was ill would only be stating the obvious. Yet, he was avoiding verbally confirming what the kids were fearing. Better to not upset them more than they already seemed to be.
"Anyway, are you going to look for the second clue, too?" It took a bit of willpower to ask that question and not 'where the hell did you find two shotguns?', but it was better to see what they were doing and if they needed any help first.
no subject
Yomi tilted her head. Strangely enough, the man probably would have been safer had he been one of the five scheduled to transform. One didn't need to be a rotting carcass of a monster to start attacking people in the halls; Landel had seen to that with his offer to Albedo.
no subject
And despite the reddened skin on his arm, and the obvious tell of illness, the man claimed to not be one who would yet change. Well. That made everything quite simple.
Of course, Albedo could go after patients who were already shifted, but the fine doctor had said infected patients, and it was simpler to bring down a human man than it was for an unknown beast. "I'm afraid not," the boy said, with a complete change in tone. The unsurity was lost, given way for an eloquent type of speech, mocking around the edges, that sat strange on a twelve-year-old. A hand went up to the grip of one shotgun, the other hand untying what was keeping it in place.
Nigredo had given him that nice little pistol, something more familiar to be sure, but Albedo knew his weaponry like any good soldier. At this range, a shotgun blast, a scatter spray of pellets pummeling the form, would be easily fatal with no regeneration. And the simple solution, in this case, was the one the entity chose.
The gun was pointed at the man almost languidly, a familiarity with the weapon easy to see in his stance, despite the size. "I have other things in mind, though-- Take heart," he said, smiling brightly, an inhuman display of teeth. "You'll be cured of your illness after all."
The blast rang out, loud in the dark.
no subject
However, should have was different than could. In a way, it made sense that she would balance out doing something good with doing something terrible. The sesshouseki had to keep the scales balanced.
And she couldn't... she couldn't do anything to stop it.
The shotgun fired, rattling her eardrums, but Yomi didn't so much as blink as the man's body jerked under the impact.
no subject
Byrne should have questioned that arsenal out loud before anything else. He should have been more suspicious. He shouldn't have believed that no patient would ever single him out for slaughter like this, especially not a child. But he'd made a serious mistake - one he would never be making again, as the deafening sound of the shotgun confirmed.
The situation turned on him too quickly to allow for any sort of proper reaction. No time for any meaningful last thoughts beyond Is he really about to--. Just an explosion, and then darkness. Any pain the prosecutor might have felt from the blast didn't last long, either. The powerful spray of pellets that tore through his body - blood - his final startled gasp of breath -
He barely recognized any of it, if at all.
And then, the force of the shot having knocked Byrne off his feet, he fell backwards to the floor, eyes remaining wide open with shock and fear. And just like that...that was it.
That was the end.