damned_institute | Night 66: Underground Lake

Seishin hadn't been entirely sure what exactly to expect of the transportation, but the instant change in location left him nauseous and disorientated. By some miracle he remained standing even despite his dizziness.

It took him a moment to recover, and in the mean time Silvestri-san had already recovered her flashlight. The former priest adjusted his glasses before taking a look around, only to discover that they were... back in the cavernous lake? He blinked, before glancing at Silvestri-san.

He guessed Charon-san had been true to his word, but neither of them had expected as much. He nodded in response, not daring to speak now that they might be within the skeleton man's hearing distance.

Ilia allowed Seishin to get settled and glanced around the cavern again, checking to be sure there wasn't anything new lurking about. Nope. Just the dock where surely Charon was waiting for them.

Ilia took Seishin's nod to also mean he was ready to move. Reaching out, she took his arm like last time and began walking towards the dock. Knowing full-well how tonight should work out, she once again prepared to handle the talking and hoped the ride would go as smoothly as it had last night.

"Evening, Charon!" She called out preemptively as they neared the dock. "Ready to help out some friends in need?"

"Heh." This time, a gravely voice reached their ears, and the skeleton sat up from its makeshift bed (or perhaps coffin) within the boat. "I don't really have friends, beautiful, but, sure, why not."

Leaning his weight against his staff, he pushed himself to a stand. His hollow eyes stared at the pair in front of him. "You'll have to pay a toll, though. I don't do handouts, no matter how cute you are."

The gravely voice was in stark contrast from the one Charon-san had used the night before, but hardly surprising. If anything, it made the experience slightly less bizarre.

Seishin had expected they would be required to pay the toll, but there was little choice but to let Silvestri-san handle the transaction as they had agreed. He glanced at her, but otherwise remained silent.

Ilia's eyebrows raised at the sound of a very different voice coming out of Charon this night but she didn't feel it would be polite to comment. He had seemed to assume her sense of smell after she had traded it for the boatride. Perhaps that meant yesterday's voice was someone else's, too. Now she was curious about meeting the man who could produce such a melodious sound with only his words, but she put that thought away for later.

"Aww, but you gave us jewelry last night. That's pretty bold for a first date, big guy!" Ilia blushed a little at the nickname the skeleton man seemed to have deemed fit for her. He was certainly a charmer! But of course nothing came free, even to the beautiful.

Ilia nodded, still smiling. "Sure, we understand. We talked about it before, and we decided that it would be best if you could take Muroi's touch for tonight."

Well, those bracelets were more like a prize for patients who had the nerve to make it all the way down here, but if the ladies wanted to think of them as presents, then Charon didn't have any complaints.

"Eheh, well, if anything lets me see you two more often, then I'm all for that," the skeleton told them with an eternal smile.

But he was glad to see they weren't going to try to haggle with him. It was painful enough having to tell some lovely ladies no! Absolutely painful!

"Muroi, eh? Cutie's a shy one, ain't she." Made him wonder why she didn't just donate her voice, but oh well. Beggars couldn't be choosers. Without another word, the ferryman brought his staff down against the wood, and the noise echoed across the dark lake.

Suddenly, he could feel the cool, damp air against his bones. It wasn't a bad sensation, all things considered.

With that done, he began to trade the staff out for his paddle. "All right, hop in!"

Seishin ducked his head in embarrassment at Silvestri-san's comment about the jewelry and Charon-san's subsequent response, inadvertently making Charon-san's description of being 'a shy one' only more suitable.

The nickname did not make the former priest feel any better, for that matter, and he averted his gaze. He was certainly not used to being subjected to...this, but at least he managed not to visibly flinch, even though an inner part of him cringed in slight repulsion.

The staff was brought down against the wood, and at the dull sound Seishin could no longer feel anything. The damp air against his skin, the ground below his feet, the weight of the hatchet in his hand, Silvestri-san's own hand in his other: all those feelings and sensations he had taken for granted had disappeared. All he could feel was... nothingness. It was as if he was severed from the world he was in, suddenly cut loose. He could certainly see the underground cavern, hear the water lapping at the shore and at the boat, smell the stale underground air... yet it all seemed unreal, as if he was not truly there.

He blinked, taking a quick look around him as if making sure everything was still fine. It would seem they were ready to board, and he nodded. Seishin began making his way over the dock, but as he was unable to feel the ground below his feet it proved to be more difficult than the former priest had expected. Sight was the only thing he was able to rely on as he carefully made his way to the boat, but he had no intention to make Silvestri-san needlessly worry. Hopefully, he would not be too much of a nuisance like this...

If walking had been challenging, climbing into the boat was another thing altogether. He could never be certain whether he had truly placed his feet into the boat or even how to properly retain his balance, but somehow Seishin managed to succeed. He offered both Silvestri-san and Charon-san an apologetic glance for taking a little longer as he carefully sat down, placing the hatchet on his lap and folding his hands over it.

"Oh, stop it, you!" Ilia giggled, not completely faking. She was used to compliments on her resourcefulness and intelligence, and while flirting was always welcome it was never quite this persistent. She was part of the problem, though, egging him on as she had.

She sighed lightly at the new nickname Seishin was given. The poor man. Ilia was going to have to start a tab on how much she owed him for putting him through these embarrassing boat rides.

Ilia hadn't thought through just how extreme a loss of touch could be. She moved into the boat easily, but when it was Seishin's turn felt herself balking at her own inconsideration. What if he fell in the water? Would those bodies really try and drag him under? Ilia bit her bottom lip, trying to contain her worry as Seishin stepped down. Her hand almost came up to steady him, but she had already taken away much of his pride already. It was likely best not to reach out until he really was falling.

When he sat down without tipping them all over, Ilia released a slightly shuddering breath. Her voice was a little strained but otherwise she managed to force her face into something relatively calm. "Guess we're ready to go..."

So far, neither of them had commented on his change of voice. Maybe all that tripe about first impressions making lasting impressions was true after all. At the very least, they weren't acting like they didn't want to come by again. Offering a useful service could be pretty handy!

Once the two were settled, Charon took the paddle and pushed them away from the dock. Like always, the boat cut through the murky water, disregarding the dead that were scattered underneath the lake's surface. When someone had been dead as long as Charon, it took a lot more than scary faces to bother him.

"You know, beautiful," the ferryman remarked as he steered them toward their destination, "you kinda remind me of someone I've met, but I can't remember who off the top of my skull."

Seishin spared a glance at the dead in the water. As morbid and unnerving as it was, he still couldn't help but to be a little curious about them. However, it was a question he would not be able to voice for the time being.

He believed Charon-san's remark to be a little strange, but his facial expression remained calm and stoic. It was not as though he could join the conversation, so he just listened quietly.

They sped quietly across the lake, hardly even a slosh to accompany Charon's steady rowing. It was a little creepy, but Ilia trusted that at least they would get across safely.

The skeleton man's musing surprised her. Someone who reminded him of her? "You probably see a lot of people in your line of work. I guess some are bound to seem similar to others..."

Her mouth quirked into a half-smile. "Speaking of, do you happen to have a day job, Charon?"

"I guess." The ferryman used a free hand to scratch at his cheek bone. Did all live ones look the same to him? He hadn't been dead that long, had he? Or had he? Ah, well. It didn't really matter, and he let the matter drop.

"A day job?" he echoed. "What, you think this isn't a full-time job? Who do you think keeps the critters down here entertained? I've got a deck of cards just for that purpose, you know."

With how different the institute was during the day, it was not so strange to wonder what Charon-san would be doing while the sun was up, was it? Yet, the mental image of several monsters and a skeleton man engrossed in some card game was one that kept being a little strange to Seishin, if not almost comical had the situation been different. Was the skeleton man even serious? It was hard to tell.

But the idea was not any more bizarre than a talking skeleton, was it?

The former priest looked down on his hands, still finding it strange he could not feel the cold metal from the hatchet. He would have to be careful; it would be bad if he accidentally lost his weapon or cut himself on the blade, and he didn't want to unnecessarily burden Silvestri-san.

Edited 2012-10-24 22:40 (UTC)

"Well," said Ilia, a little amused as she watched him scratch his skull, "if you happen to remember who it is, do tell! You've got me all interested in this mystery person."

She waved her hand, not having meant any offense. "Er, I guess I just thought... Well, entertaining is a job, certainly."

Ilia chuckled and shook her head. So much for trying to learn a bit more about the skeleton man. But she supposed it was just as well. Nothing in Landel's made sense. "Ever tried to convince a game out of those you take over the lake?"

"I'll think on it," Charon gruffly said. Not like he had anything better to do. And if Beautiful wanted to know who she reminded him of, he was willing to at least try to figure that out.

As for whether he'd played a game with any of the living, well...the toll could have been considered his idea of having fun. There were also other ways to play with people at their own expense. When someone had been stuck down here as long as Charon, they didn't get too picky about entertainment.

"Nah," he said as he continued steering them across the lake. "I may not look it, but I take my job seriously. I do! I mean, do you know of any dead guys who can row people across a dark, dangerous lake? Heh!"

By now, they were approaching the dock on the other side, the flickering torches serving as a guide of where to bring the boat. Within moments, they reached their destination.

"All right, ladies!" he said as he leaned against his paddle. "This is our stop. Don't lose any limbs or anything, you hear?"

They had reached the other end of the lake without any problems, fortunately. Seishin bowed his head as a silent 'thank you', before he began to climb out of the boat onto the dock. The task did not prove to be any easier than climbing in, with the rocking of the boat on the ominous water and his inability to feel what he was doing. Even shifting his weight from one leg to the other as he climbed was a difficult task, and he could do nothing but rely on his vision alone. He hadn't expected the loss of his touch to be so extreme, but there was no use complaining; after all, there was not much else he was able to offer.

The former priest somehow managed to climb onto the dock without falling into the water, and only once he was sure his feet were secure on the wood and he hadn't dropped his weapon anywhere, he offered an apologetic smile.

"Can't say I do know any others," Ilia had to admit. She smiled, shaking her head. "Well, everyone loves a man with dedication."

It seemed to not take as long to reach the other end this night. Ilia felt relief radiate from her. She wasn't sure what they would have to do on the other side, but at least they could drop the charade once they put distance between themselves and Charon.

"Hey, thanks for you help."

Ilia patiently waited for Seishin to climb up to the dock before climbing up after him. Offering Charon a wave, Ilia turned to the other side and used her flashlight to guide their way onto the other shore.

Once they were out of hearing range, Ilia let out a sigh. "Sorry... again. Let's just try to figure out this next task and get out of here."

Seishin simply nodded in response as he followed Silvestri-san off the dock onto the greyish black sands of the beach. Even though they were beyond hearing distance right now and he felt relieved to drop the act, there wasn't anything in particular the former priest had to add for now, so he simply walked quietly, partly occupied with not trying to trip.

If the bones on the other side had given him a bad feeling last night, the ones that littered the beach here were completely unsettling. Bones of monsters and what he assumed to be people alike littered the dark sand, and eventually the small beams of their flashlights passed over altars stained with blood and severed limbs. It seemed they had stumbled upon what looked to be the remains of some cult sacrifice you would find in certain types of fiction.

Facing them was a large rock, reaching from floor to ceiling. Ritual symbols were carved into them, and all of the foor doors were bloodied. A warning had been carved above them: 'Two must enter, Two must leave.'

That was...hardly a good sign, was it? His eyes narrowed in concern, and he couldn't shake a sense of dread. What would await them beyond these doors?

Nonetheless, they pressed on, ending up selecting one of the doors at random.

[To here]

Night 66: Underground Lake

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