Day 72: Sun Room (4th Shift)

[lighthearted]

[From here.]

Sora wandered back over to the bulletin board after leaving the showers, hoping that he might run into the person he'd talked to over it yesterday. He remembered the description Sechs had given him: tall, dark hair, yellow eyes. That was the sort of thing that should stand out...

But if Sechs was over eighteen, there was a good chance that he would be in the Arts and Crafts room instead. Sora could try and beg one of the nurses to let him go check, but he didn't know if they'd be all that happy with him after he'd slept most of the day.

Well, he'd wait around for just a little longer. If Sechs didn't show, then Sora was going to ask a nurse anyway. The worst thing they could do was say no, right?

[For Sechs.]

Comments

[his_legacy]

Alphonse was usually a good-natured young man, so Link was slightly surprised to see him looking rather disgruntled as he entered the Sun Room.

Though he couldn't help but add their situation into the equation.

"Good afternoon." Link offered a smile as he settled on the couch next to Al. Now closer, he noted the mild burns running up the boy's arms.

[armoredsoul]

Al blinked and smiled when he noticed Link coming over, nodding in return as he sat down. "As good as it can be. How have you been?"

[his_legacy]

"Better, I think," he said, leaning back on the couch. Sora was all right. They had a chance of beating this prison. It had been far too long, and Link had only spent a brief time compared to people like Sora.

"You?" He had a brother here as well, right? Link prayed that he was also okay.

[armoredsoul]

"Frustrated," he admitted, grimacing a bit. "I think Landel made me into a magnet for his traps and stuff when he brought me here."

[his_legacy]

Link smiled sympathetically.

"It's rare for people to go nights without some sort of injury." He had escaped harm more than others, though Link chalked it up to his recent experience. This wasn't the first place of its kind he had come across.

Though, he had to admit, it was unlike any other. And far more dangerous.

"We're getting close, though. You know of the rebel movement, don't you?"

[armoredsoul]

"So I've noticed. But my body's weaker than it was before I was brought here, and compared to Brother I can't help but notice. I used to be the one that always beat him!" The last came out in a whine, borne more of bruised pride than anything else.

He nodded again. "Yeah, I do. Scar got a note from the rebels last night, and we did manage to get up to the third floor. We only got to the hallway before we blacked out, though."

[his_legacy]

"Weaker? How so?" He had heard of abilities being 'weaker,' here. Link himself had felt a strange sort of disconnect since he had arrived, as well. Like he was cut off from Hyrule completely.

Scar...? Scar! Alphonse knew him as well, then? Link only knew his name from the bulletin post regarding his whereabouts and the rather... nasty incident.

"You know him, then?" Was Alphonse the one he had spoken to on the board? "I apologize if this is insensitive, but... from what I knew, he had... died. But he is alive once again. Do you know what happened?" A fairy could bring a person back from the brink of death, yes, but beyond that, there was no such concept in Hyrule. Spirits lived on, but they never returned to physical form.

[armoredsoul]

"Well...my body is flesh and blood again, for one thing. My soul had been bound to a suit of armor after I lost my body in an accident." It's not the most comfortable of subjects, but at least here he didn't have to worry about being nabbed up for experiments.

Not by the patients, at least. "Brother and I had been trying to find a way to get my body back before Landel took us."

Al winced and looks down. "Other than that Landel is the reason he is alive again, no. Scar had been dead back home before he was brought here, too, so obviously it's something he's capable of."

[his_legacy]

His... body? Goddesses. Link's ears drooped. He sat up straighter, eyeing Alphonse carefully.

"I see..." On both accounts. At least, he understood as well as he could. Nobody knew how Landel could raise the dead, then. He was thankful, at least, that the other man was alive. It was just like Sora... Gone, but then...

No more. The corners of Link's lips drooped. Soon. They would be through with this place soon.

He chose not to ask further about the details surrounding the loss of Alphonse's body, or how his spirit could have been tied to a suit of armor. So he simply let it drop.

"If I were to find the raw materials necessary, would you still be all right with building a sword for me?"

[armoredsoul]

AL was thankful Link didn't ask any more about his armored body from before--it still felt strange to be open with people about it, even if he knew it wouldn't bring any harm here. Other than maybe a few insensitive comments sent his way, but that hadn't happened yet.

He brightens a bit at the new subject, though. This was definitely one way he could still be helpful! "Of course! There's another person that wants a gun made for them, so it might be a few nights before I can transmute it. Though I might be able to convince Brother to do it, if I do use up all my energy on the gun."

[his_legacy]

"Excellent. Thank you." Link smiled, now re-running through his head where he might find the ores necessary for quality steel. He couldn't be picky, he knew, but a brittle weapon was worthless.

"You have been productive during the nights, then?"

[armoredsoul]

Al nodded. "Well, Brother and I were able to make some flash and stink bombs with some materials we found, which should be useful to get away from the monsters. And we got up to the third floor, too. Do you know where the entrance is already?"

[his_legacy]

"Fantastic!" So their 'alchemy' thing was quite useful, then. Link kept that in mind. Perhaps there was something they would be willing to trade for explosives. He missed having them on his person at all times.

"I have heard rumors of the details... And somebody was kind enough to post information today." His voice dropped in volume. "Beyond that, though, I have not seen the entrance for myself." And a small, vain part of him that never truly spoke up was disappointed that he had yet to find it.

[armoredsoul]

Alphonse's voice dropped lower as well, and he glanced furtively at the nurses nearby. "It's in the Patient Library. You pull a book called Oxford Book of English Verse off the shelf, and the hidden door opens up. It was covered in...something that made me hallucinate, though, so try not to touch it directly if you can."

[his_legacy]

"I've gloves, though I will be certain to keep that in mind." Link nodded, uncertain of whether or not he should ask Alphonse of the nature of the hallucinations. Though if he caught sight of someone who might be suffering from them, he wanted to be certain.

"What was the... nature of the hallucinations?"

[armoredsoul]

Al bowed his head, ashamed despite the fact he couldn't have known what would happen. "They didn't make me attack anyone, but...I saw my mom, and I just. I had to try and follow her. Brother and Scar had to pin me down for fifteen minutes or so."

[his_legacy]

"I see." Link didn't further pursue it. "I will keep that in mind, then." He glanced out the window, the sun slowly falling lower over the trees. It wasn't long until the nurses began rounding people up for dinner time.

"We will speak again, Alphonse." He offered a smile before following his nurse out of the Sun Room.