Night 69: M-B Block Hallway

[nobleman]

[From here.]

As much as Guy tried to ignore what the Head Doctor said, he couldn't do that this time around. Was it true that someone had really found a way to the third floor? If so, Guy certainly hadn't heard of it, and he was curious to learn more about it. But the more bothersome aspect of Landel's announcement was the implication that all of the other patients were simply wasting their time.

It wasn't that he hadn't considered the possibility that the caverns were just a huge waste of time, but this almost seemed to confirm that. Landel could just be trying to unsettle them and steer them astray, of course, but Guy had to admit that he felt shaken by the possibility that they were on some wild goose chase after all.

He could discuss it with Anise and Claude when he met up with them. Speaking of which, he was already at his normal meeting spot with Claude, and it was as Guy leaned up against the wall like he always did that he remembered that Claude was going to bring him some kind of gift tonight.

Even if it was supposedly nothing special, Guy was still eager to find out what it was. Luckily, he wouldn't have to wait for very long to have that particular question answered.

Comments

[armoredsoul]

[from here]

The hall was mostly empty as they passed through, Al slowing to walk alongside Scar now. Al hoped this night would prove less disastrous than the last--and that the ghost might decide to stop bothering them now.

[envy_the_sinners]

"You don't have to pretend it isn't pathetic," Scar grumbled as they made their way through the residential halls. At least they were getting close without incident.

[To here]

[envy_the_sinners]

[From here]

Scar strode back into the block hallway with the Elrics in tow, occasionally checking to make sure he was still with them. He kept at a pace where he could keep an eye on them. The last thing they needed was to be attacked.

[fullmetalheart]

Ed watched their surroundings alertly. "Al? For the sake of not having to fight off freaky ghost-things, don't touch any cats tonight."

[armoredsoul]

Al scowled at Ed, and resisted the urge to smack him again as they trooped back out into the outer corridor. "I wasn't planning on doing that again!"

[to here]

[forsworn]

[from here]

There was someone in this hall, and Kratos gave him a glance as he passed him by. It was - the face was familiar, but the name took him a while: it had been a while since they last talked - Guy. He looked to be waiting for someone, but that was not unusual for anyone lingering in a hallway; Kratos silently wished him luck with whatever he had planned for the night as he continued on toward Lloyd's room.

[to here]

[earthling]

((From here, after his talk with Kratos.))

Claude left his room in an anxious daze. This wasn't the first time he'd seen a roommate get dragged away by the staff, but that didn't make watching it happen again any easier. He'd been tortured on the second floor before, he knew what it was like to be under a bright light and at a madman's mercy, which just made his stomach twist even more when he thought about Lloyd.

But what could he do? He'd been here long enough to know there wasn't much outside of waiting and hoping the door unlocked before night ended. If there wasn't a monster hanging around there, anyway. And if he had to share a hallway with that patient who was looking for Lloyd, there was no guarantee he wouldn't try to attack them first.

When he saw Guy, he didn't have it him in to try to act like everything was okay.

"They took Lloyd," he simply said as he moved toward him.

[nobleman]

It did take a little longer than usual for Claude to make it out of his hall, and after last night Guy started to worry about it sooner than he might have otherwise. Claude had seemed perfectly fine earlier in the day, so if it turned out that he was sleeping again now, that really could be a sign of something worse.

Guy was about to head down to Claude's room to see for himself, but then he caught the beam of Claude's light as he headed down the hall. Guy was immediately relieved, though that didn't last long when he saw the look on Claude's face.

He didn't even have to ask. Claude explained almost immediately, though the news caused a ball of dread of form in Guy's stomach. Lloyd had been taken now? He hadn't even been here that long, although that apparently didn't have any bearing on anything. Guy knew that this had happened to Claude before with a previous roommate of his , but Guy hadn't been as familiar with that one.

"You want to go after him?" he asked, cutting to the chase because there wasn't much point in doing anything else. "I doubt Anise would mind." She might not have met Lloyd, but she would understand that sometimes things had to be put on hold when there were greater problems at hand. It seemed like they just never got a break around here; maybe this was Landel's way of keeping them away from the caverns.

[earthling]

"I do, but--" Claude let out a frustrated breath. "Kratos made it pretty clear he wanted to take care of it alone. The guy's been around for awhile, so I'm sure he knows what he's getting himself into. We might wind up doing more harm than good if we followed after him."

It was kind of a Dias-like thing to do, now that Claude thought about it. On the other hand, Dias seemed to consider himself incapable of helping people simply for the sake of it. Who knew whether that was true for Kratos, though? Maybe it was pride, especially if he honestly believed he was capable of handling things on his own.

As someone who had gone through his own share of stubborn streaks in the past, Claude thought he might be able to relate to something like that at least a little.

[nobleman]

So it was like that. Kratos and Lloyd were really that close? Guy seemed to recall Lloyd mentioning him, but he hadn't realized that it was the sort of bond that went beyond a simple friendship. He personally thought it was unreasonable for Kratos not to accept some kind of help, but maybe there were other factors playing into it.

It still didn't sit well with him, just leaving Lloyd to rot like that, but Guy tried to move past it. If Claude had accepted leaving it to Kratos, then he would have to do the same. It was true that they might cause a bigger mess if they butted in where they weren't wanted.

"All right," he said, his mouth dry as he continued to dwell on what kind of horrible things might be happening to Lloyd right now. But there wasn't a thing they could do about that, so maybe it was better to turn their attentions elsewhere. "In that case, I guess we'd better find Anise before she starts worrying." Guy stepped away from the wall and toward the exit door, expecting Claude to follow.

[To here.]

[thecamellia]

_{[from here]}

Tsubaki crept through the open door, searching the darkness for signs of other prisoners. It was quiet, for the most part, a silence broken only by the faint murmur of voices coming from the room halls.

He better not have changed rooms, too. That would just be her luck...

She was just about to continue into the second hall where she knew M67 was located when the sound of a particular voice stopped her. Wait... She was too far away to make out the words, but... she knew that voice, didn't she?

She strained her ears. Yes! That had to be--

_{[to here]}

[asteroidbelt]

[from here]

He'd traversed this hallway twice before in the dark; once without a flashlight. There was nothing surprising here; he passed through quickly.

[to here]

[forsworn]

[from here; before Claude meets Guy]

Kratos stormed down the hallway, now totally ignorant of anything going on around him; all that he could hear or even think was the thundering chorus of they have Lloyd that repeated itself over and over in his head, spurring him first into a brisk walk and then into a dead sprint.

they have Lloyd they have Lloyd they have Lloyd they have Lloyd they have Lloyd--

He had little idea of where Lloyd was being held, but Claude had said "upstairs", and really, that was all he needed to know; if he could, Kratos would have torn the entire institute apart so long as he managed to find Lloyd before any sort of lasting damage could be done.

[to here]

[maverickhunterx]

[From here!]

...Dark. Of course it would have been dark, what else was he expecting? The lights were out, casting a gloom over everything that was almost tangible, just like everything else in this godforsaken place.

X turned on his flashlight, quickly scanning the hall to get his bearings: it seemed to be not much different from the hallway leading to his own room, with a long stretch of hall with several doors lined along the wall.

M79...

Not bothering to turn the light off, he opened the closest door to him with his shoulder. He kept his flashlight in front of him, poised at eye-level in case something came at him, hopefully being bright enough to momentarily blind them if need be.

[To here!]