damned_institute | Night 66: Forest

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Night 66: Forest

[From here.]

It was an odd thing really. Sechs had been so used to walking through those rigid hallways for the past few weeks that this trek through wide-open space felt almost foreign to him. No walls, doors, stairs or tiled floors... Just a wet, open field with grass, rocks and the occasional shrub. It was like he had returned to a very old memory, one of traveling for miles on foot through deserts and canyons back at his homeworld. He didn't think he would ever get rusty at this sort of thing! This nighttime walk was reminding him of just how much he missed all that freedom of travel before. Now if it hadn't been raining so damn much...

Ascending the peak of a sloping hill, Sechs paused and scanned the area to make sure they were going in the right direction. The rain was coming down so thick that he had to wipe his drenched hair away from his eyes to see properly. From there he could barely make out the pitch black wall of trees near the base of the hill. Sechs gave out a mixed sigh of relief and trepidation. They had made it to the forest, and so far it wasn't looking one bit welcoming...

"We made it..." he panted, "Now we just gotta find where those leaves come from and whatever water source is nearby..." He stopped and looked to Link, "I don't think there's any paths we can take there. You uh, you good at navigating through forests?" he asked, looking somewhat abashed that he had to ask that question in the first place. "They're uh, not too common back where I come from..."

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Sechs' shoulders slouched over at Link's answer. "Damn... I know someone else who's sick too..." he grimly replied, his thoughts wandering over to memories of Aigis smiling weakly amidst her suffering. "I hope they're ok back at the institute..."

After what felt like hours of trekking through the foggy underbrush, Link suddenly spoke up in the unbearable silence, nearly spooking Sechs into swinging his axe at the darkness. He managed to halt and listen to his ally's words. If Sechs' ears were as long and pointed as Link's, they would have perked up with attention as well. Instead his back straightened from his usual slouch and he stretched his neck out to catch the precious sound of running water. Sechs held his breath. The misty atmosphere of the forest seemed too thick and heavy for sounds to carry through, yet he eventually heard the same sound as Link.

The former android exhaled with a grin. The river was just up ahead! Sechs eagerly followed his nimble ally with less grace and fluidity, kicking through the bushes with his heavy boots and shoving away branches with his axe. Driven by his need to find a cure, Sechs' focus narrowed on the source of the watery sound, overriding his cautious instincts to remain quiet. If they could just find that river and where those dried leaves originated from--!

Finally, they came upon a narrow clearing that closely followed the edge of a flowing river. Sechs stumbled to a stop, his boots splashing into the wet earth as he felt the rain thicken upon his head. There were fewer trees to act as covers from the storm and the blackened clouds above still refused to release the moon from their capture, keeping everything damp and in the dark. Like the forest itself, the stream was but a foreboding road through the earth, its black surface bubbling and churning from its own flow and the rain pelting down upon it. It was a grim sight to find, one that didn't offer Sechs as much comfort as he hoped it would.

Catching his breath, Sechs scanned the area with his flashlight and took out some of the dried leaves from his pocket. He glanced up at the looming treetops, narrowing his eyes against the falling rain at the multitudes of leaves above. Had they found the right place?

"Alright, we found the river," Sechs muttered, glaring into the darkness for any hints of a cure -- and of danger as well. "Now we just gotta find those leaves and hope we get a clearer sign on what to do next..."

Sechs sure as hell hoped there would be a concrete sign from all this, otherwise he would be at a total loss at what to do. The two of them were going to have to figure out something soon before the night ended. They couldn't expect some headless Baptist to pop up and just hand over the cure, as weird yet oddly helpful that possibility sounded...

Link's heart pounded in his ears both from his run and his excitement. He came to a halt right by the water's edge, shining his flashlight into the river. It was flowing southward, which made sense. They were definitely on an incline of some sort. He pointed the light upstream, squinting for any sort of sign.

"Do you have any idea what we might be looking for...?"

If all else failed, he thought it best to try to find the water's source.

"I wonder if we should be looking to the trees more than the water..." He glanced up to the canopy, squinting in the rain with Sechs.

As Link gazed upward, an odd shape appeared over the the churning water. It should have been physically impossible for someone to stand so still within the swift currents, and yet the figure had no issues remaining in place.

Its dark robes made it difficult to spot right away, but the distinctly-shape mask (or was it its face?) was white, and a stark contrast to the rest of the dreary, rain-drenched woods.

A pair of hollow eyes bore into the two men near the river bank, but, whatever it was, it stayed perfectly still.

[Jansen]

"N-not really..." Sechs admitted, his shoulders slumping forward from the growing doubt that was rapidly taking on weight inside his mind. Was his theory about the river right or had he missed a vital part of the clue? A tiny hint of panic shocked his heart; he couldn't stand the idea of having been wrong on something so important! What about Sora, Aigis and everyone else infected? They couldn't have risked this trek to the forest for nothing! Frowning, Sechs slowly lowered his flashlight down from the forest canopy towards the river. "You might be right there," he grimly replied. "The leaves were a big part of the clue after all--"

Yet the rest of Sechs' words never made it past his lips. Instead they had frozen inside his throat the very moment his flashlight fell upon a freakishly white face floating above the river. The unexpected sight nearly petrified the Replica, sending his brain stumbling into a numb state of terror akin to a computer program crashing from an unexpected error. That face wasn't there before--

For a second Sechs was as still as a terrified rabbit, his face nearly expressionless while his eyes remained wide and dilated. The next second that followed filled the Replica with electrifying adrenaline, jolting him out from his state of disbelief as he bristled into a hostile stance against the unmoving mask. He took a defensive step back and swung his axe down from his shoulder, readying his weapon for any hazard the stranger represented.

"Who's there?!" he snarled at the suspended figure, his body hunched over like a threatened canine as he kept his flashlight fixed on the unnerving face.

Link had already been tense, the sense of foreboding that came with nighttime here leaving him constantly at the ready. He was still startled, though, his heart jumping into his throat when Sechs shouted. His reaction was instant, dropping his stance lower and raising the knife in his left hand. Link shone his light on the water, eyes wide and lips curling in a nearly canine expression as he glowered at the apparition on the water. To him, the figure was more promising than threatening. The ghostly thing didn't belong in the river. That meant they were close to something. Something important.

The Hylian was silent, as he always was in the face of danger. All of his focus and concentration was on the creature that seemed to be hovering on the water. He would wait for it to move. Rushing head-on into something unknown meant nothing but death. He would take his time. Track its movements and mannerisms. Maybe it wouldn't even attack at all.

The figure tilted its white, beak-like face, but didn't utter a sound. Whether it could understand what the patients were saying was difficult to tell. What was clear, however, was that the apparition was aware that it was being watched.

Raising a gloved hand, the cloaked figure seemed to gesture for the two to come closer.

[Sorry for my lateness! My internet conked out on me for a couple of days. orz]

Sechs remained posed for attack while his labored breathing came out in rumbling growls. He knew the white-faced stranger couldn't have been a hallucination caused by the M-U drug, as it never used anything lighter than black ink for its illusions. Link's reaction confirmed to Sechs that he was definitely not seeing things either. The former android cautiously watched the stranger tilt its head, expecting it to suddenly fly off its invisible perch and attack with unforeseen talons. Yet the masked creature remained hovering on the spot and uttered not a single sound. Whether or not it moved, it was still an unnerving sight to behold for the Replica. It was unlike anything he had ever seen before since he became trapped in Landel's.

After what felt like hours of intense silence, the floating figure moved once more, this time beckoning Sechs and Link to come closer. Sechs blew out a snort through his nostrils at the gesture, gripping even harder into his weapon as he took a step back. Years at the Scrapyard and weeks trapped in Landels taught Sechs to know better than to approach a stranger like this. What if the masked stranger were to attack through other means hidden in the river? Even the drug implanted inside Sechs' spine was hissing warnings of death inside his ear. This didn't look right--

Yet...

What if this masked stranger was the cure they were looking for, the beheaded Baptist mentioned in the clue? It had not made any hostile moves yet and it was in the right area which Sechs' theory added up to, in the river surrounded by trees as he had hoped. Maybe there was something helpful behind that disturbing mask...

Finally, without saying anything, Sechs looked to Link and gave him a knowing nod. He was the one who was sick here; Link didn't have to follow if he chose not to. Sechs then lowered his axe and warily approached the blackened creature until his boots barely touched the bubbling edge of the river. He stopped there and kept his gaze and flashlight fixed on the stranger. Now he could only hope that this wasn't some cruel trap...

[No worries!]

The whole while they stood in silence, Link's grip on his light and knife did not falter. He had no true way of knowing if he gazed upon friend or foe. The specter honestly reminded him more of the friendly denizens of the Twilight Realm than it did of any enemy.

As far as Link was concerned, there was only one way to find out what this creature would do. He moved with Sechs, standing a hair ahead of his sick friend purely out of instinct. All of the Hylian's senses seemed to be in overdrive. The rain pattering against the treetops. The flow of the river's water. The glare of the figure's white mask in the light of his torch.

He was tense and ready for whatever it would do.

The apparition's gloved hand turned, palm facing the canopy of trees overhead. Then, as if by some sort of sorcery, a stem containing several leaves and a single yellow flower appeared in the figure's grasp. The cheery blossom was a stark contrast to its surroundings, and the grim-looking creature that held it. If a patient shined their flashlight onto it, the flower would be more than easy to see.

Then, extending its arm, the stranger seemed to offer it to the approaching men.

As much as Sechs wanted to approach the silent stranger by himself, he couldn't help but feel a little less tense as Link closely followed him to the edge of the river. Sechs may have barely known the blond youth so far, but already he was thankful to have him as an ally tonight. No matter what happens now, he wasn't going to be alone through it.

Despite the overwhelming shivering and aching he was suffering, Sechs remained attentive towards the cloaked figure, keeping his yellow eyes fixed on its shadowy outline. Everything going on around him felt amplified by the silent stillness emanating from the stranger. He could feel his blood flowing faster throughout his veins, his nerves painfully tingled with anticipation. With his position being much closer to the figure, now was the time for it to strike out -- or help.

When it finally moved, its actions were once again slow and gentle, but what it revealed in its upturned hand surprised Sechs more than an attack from behind.

...A flower?

Sechs blinked, nonplussed by this unexpected offering. To the Replica, flowers were an odd rarity back at the Scrapyard. The climate there was too dry and the soil too barren to support anything but the hardiest of weeds. Finding a flower poking out amongst all the junk there was almost unheard of. Plants like that weren't seen as anything useful in the harsh factory life of metal and violence. Yet for some citizens of the Scrapyard, a flower made just as a good as a gift as a diamond ring...

Was that what this yellow flower was supposed to be? A gift? It was so strange to see a bright, delicate plant in the hands of such a dark and grim creature. It was so much like how a flower would be seen back at the Scrapyard, a rare miracle surviving in an unforgiving world of steel and cruelty. Perhaps the stranger was truly benevolent behind that bird-like mask?

Locking his flashlight and focus on the flower, Sechs tucked his axe away and took a careful step forward, submerging his boot into the icy water. Each step Sechs took got him closer to the figure and its gift, but it was also putting him in grave risk. The last thing he needed was to slip into the water, knowing full well that such a freezing hazard was sure to trigger the M-U drug into taking full control of his body. Yet if this flower was the cure to Landel's virus, then he had to take that risk, not just for himself but for Aigis and everyone else as well.

By the time Sechs was nearing the stranger's hovering form, he was already waist-deep in the river. At that point Sechs' shivering had turned into uncontrollable trembling from the chilling water and rain that was dowsing him from head to foot, yet he kept his eyes locked on the stranger's gift without relent. Wading across the water felt like an eternal task for the Replica until he finally got close enough to reach for the cloaked figure's offering. Fighting to keep himself planted on the spot against the river's current, Sechs slowly raised his quivering hands up and grasped the flower by its delicate stem, trying to do so as carefully as any former battle android once made of metal could. His hands were so cold he could barely feel the flower's leaves brush against his fingers; he feared he would drop it into the river. Yet after a few anxious seconds of nervous fumbling, Sechs managed to safely receive the flower from the stranger's gloved hand.

Lowering his arms to keep the plant close to his chest, Sechs stared down at the strange gift for a moment, taking in its comforting colors. He then gazed up to the stark-white mask above him, almost at a total loss for words except for one question: "What... What should I do with this...?"

Link stared with perplexity as the apparition conjured the flower. It didn't appear to be anything special... Yellow was never a color of a healing substance in Hyrule.

He was starting to come to the conclusion, though, that nothing here was like Hyrule.

The Hylian followed Sechs into the water, easily ignoring the freezing current. There was something not normal about the river, but he couldn't tell what it was in the poor lighting. Link watched silently, knife still in hand, as Sechs took the delicate flower from the seemingly benevolent creature.

"...Do you speak?" he asked, his head cocked curiously to the side and his ears twitching.

Although the robed figure was certainly close enough to hear both questions, the mask's hollow eyes continued to stare at them. Slowly, though, the stranger mimicked Link's tilted head, and faced Sechs more fully.

Then, with a slight turn of a gloved hand, a ghostly, green butterfly fluttered near the flower that was cradled near Sechs' chest. Interestingly, the color and shape wasn't unlike the picture someone had painted in the X-Ray room. As soon as the butterfly gently settled on one of the yellow petals, however, its wings disintegrated like old parchment caught in a flame, until the bug had vanished.

That, apparently, was its answer.

[I'm extremely sorry for my lateness! =( Notifs failed me and RL got real tough. orz]

Sechs flinched from the sudden appearance of the butterfly, nearly losing his balance from his combative instinct's knee-jerk reaction to uncanny illusions. He already had enough bad experiences with dangerous hallucinations from his fight with Whophon and his current battle with the M-U drug! Yet something about the insect's gentle landing upon the flower kept the Replica from striking out. Sechs just noticed the butterfly's resemblance to the clue's oil painting before it suddenly burst into a twisted flame upon the flower's petal. Now Sechs really twitched from the image before him! He took a shocked step back and held the flower away from his chest. Was this how the masked apparition was going to attack them? By setting them on fire?!

Yet the flame came and went just as quickly as one that had been sparked and snuffed out through a lighter in a single second. No harm had been done and the yellow flower remained untouched and almost serene in Sechs' hands. What just happened...?

Cautiously bringing the flower back to his chest, Sechs stared down at the plant with wide eyes and furrowed brows. What did that strange display mean? How was it supposed to help him with this virus? It all made little sense to him, so much so that the gears inside Sechs' head sluggishly clanked away like a rusty piece of junk! He couldn't bear to ask Link about it and the masked stranger obviously wasn't going to talk. Sechs gritted his teeth. Damnit! Why did he have to be so dumb?! Everyone else like Alita could easily figure this out! He might as well be just as stupid as that bug that burned up on that flower...!

Wait... A bug? Like the kind of bug that makes you sick? The one shown in that first clue about getting one out of your stomach by surgery? Did that mean the flower in his possession could burn up the bug that was inside his system right now...?

"I... I think I know what I have to do..." he muttered.

Sechs' train of thought seemed to be disturbing the drug inside his spine, as it gave his back a painful wrench before hissing in his ear. "Don't even think about it!" it snarled inside Sechs' mind, "You eat that flower and it's just going to make you look stupid! It's not going to do a DAMN thing for you except make you sicker! Remember what happened with the 'medicine' the military left for you that one night...?"

The Replica hesitated. The flower in his hands was rapidly becoming shrouded by the drug's inky mirages, yet somehow its glow managed to remain bright against the shadows coiling around its stem. Maybe the drug was right... He had no idea who or what this masked stranger's true intentions were. What if it was just a trap set by his enemies? But something inside Sechs' heart felt little suspicion towards the flower's warm light. Something just felt right about the cloaked creature's gift. It was then that Sechs made his decision. If the virus was to be cured then the flower had to get inside his stomach where the bug resided, and if the drug was reacting so defensively about it then Sechs knew just what to do...

He ate the flower. Ignoring the drug's illusions and curses, Sechs chomped down on the plant, ripping the head off the stem and chewing it down as quickly as he could. For such a brutish meat-lover like Sechs, he didn't think he would ever eat anything vegetable-related with such voracity like this! As he eagerly gulped the flower down, he could only wait and hope that he had done the right thing...

Anxious minutes dragged by with no apparent changes for the Replica to sense. Was it working? The parasite inside Sechs' consciousness was still insulting and threatening him, but his attention eventually moved to his exposed fingers. With his flashlight focused on his gloved hand, Sechs watched in disbelief as the red rash on his skin began to slowly but surely fade. Finally, a joyous smile emerged upon the android's lips as he pulled off his glove to get a better look at the receding rash.

"L-look!" Sechs exclaimed, barely able to repress a chuckle as he showed his hand to Link, "It's... It's working!"

[Don't worry about it!]

The confusion on Link's face melted into a smile as he watched the green butterfly singe and curl until it was nothing but ash. It was only obvious that it was the same creature residing in the sick patients' stomachs.

"Yes, we just-" Link cut himself off, a sudden tightness coming over his chest as Sechs devoured the flower whole. Why would he gobble the whole thing down?! He panicked for a moment, looking back to the apparition. Sechs' affirmation that the cure worked registered with Link. He knew it was good that his friend was cured, but...

"Do you have more?" he asked the cloaked creature. If Sechs had just swallowed whole their only cure that could have easily been divided into pieces, those dozens of other sick people...

As the masked figure stared at them, the trees shook from the wind and rain. Perhaps it was the patients' imaginations, but the noise seemed to billow and blow into words. One full stem cures one person...

And, as such, the creature didn't produce anymore plants, save for a transparent apparition of a small bouquet of the same flowers from before. Then, the image shifted and morphed until countless glowing butterflies escaped from its gloved hands. Forming an iridescent trail, the phantom bugs made a perfect arc straight back toward Landel's Institute.

If Sechs and Link hoped to find more of the same herb, they would apparently have to seek them elsewhere.

Sechs gulped, perplexed by the whispering words that barely met his ears. He looked down at what was left of the chewed up stem and held it tightly in his hand. Link's question echoed his own; they were going to need a lot more of those flowers...

It was then that another hologram-like display came forth from the masked stranger, this time in the form of a whole bouquet of flowers! Sechs' grin widened with triumphant excitement. There must have been enough to cure everyone at the institute! Aigis and everyone else were going to be ok! He eagerly reached out for the cluster of glowing flowers, but his hand met nothing as the plants suddenly burst into more butterflies. Sechs' grin faded as he watched the delicate insects flutter off into the distance.

"Wuh?!"

For a moment, Sechs felt a surge of anger erupt inside his heart and he gave a reproachful frown at the emotionless mask before him. What the hell did that illusion mean? That there were no more flowers left? Why didn't it say so before? How could that cloaked creature tease them like this?! And what was up with those stupid butterflies anyways? Where the hell were they flying off to...

Sechs just about shot off an angry retort at the stranger when that last thought got him to glare back at the retreating butterflies. They weren't flying off in random directions, but a concentrated flock with one destination in mind: the institute. But why there out of all places? Were they looking for more of the flowers to land on...?

Like a firecracker going off inside his head, Sechs' inner revelation brought a new spark of determination in his eyes, erasing the frustration that marred his face and bringing back his toothy grin of gratitude. Where was the one place at the institute where you could find flowers? The green house! That had to be what the masked creature meant!

"HAH! C'mon Link!" Sechs exclaimed as he turned around and noisily waded through the water towards the river edge. "There's more back at the institute! There's gotta be enough for your roommate and everyone else!"

Crashing and splashing until he was free from the river's freezing embrace, the quivering Replica shook off as much water as he could and stuffed the stem into his drenched pocket. The chilling ache throughout his body barely reached Sechs' mind, he was too enthralled with this personal victory to care. He was feeling the most energy he had ever experienced since before he got sick! Nothing could ruin his combative bliss, not even a bad case of hypothermia!

Barely waiting for Link to catch up, Sechs almost made a dash back into the forest when he remembered one last important thing. He skidded to a stop and turned to face the hovering mask. "Thanks, whoever the hell you are!" he called to the nameless healer. He was then off like a shot back towards the institute. He knew what to do now.

Link watched the apparition, perplexed for only a brief moment. It had nothing else to give them. That was what he had been afraid of all along. He jumped as it created another illusion- those butterflies flying off in the general direction of the Institute.

Then Sechs had taken off. Pausing briefly to give a nod and a word of thanks to the strange river creature, he trudged awkwardly through the river after him.

"What did you have in mind?" Link honestly had no idea.

And there couldn't be too much time left, that night.

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Night 66: Forest

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