Day 73: Library (2nd shift)

[redcladidealist]

Don't let them snoop? If Lloyd didn't already know the secret the library held, that would have practically been asking him to poke around as much as his nurse would let him. But since he did know about the trick to the secret door, he settled instead for searching for Kratos or Castiel. If he didn't find one of them this shift, he'd have to think about putting up a note on the bulletin, but considering what he wanted to talk to them about, it would probably be better if he kept it off the board and spoke to them in person.

"Here, why don't you settle down with a nice book, Nigel?" his nurse encouraged him as she guided him toward a chair. "Poor dear. I noticed you didn't eat anything for breakfast. Maybe you just need to get your mind off of whatever's tying your stomach in knots."

Lloyd made a face at that comment, unable to hold himself in check. "Maybe if the doctors gave me my Key Crest back it wouldn't be a problem."

His nurse sighed, shaking her head. "I thought you were making more progress than that, Nigel. Here," she said, handing him a book. "I'm sure a good book will help."

Lloyd grumbled, but accepted the book anyway, albeit reluctantly. He should have known better than to expect anything from his nurse. Rather than cracking the book open, though, Lloyd set it in his lap and watched the room. Surely one of his companions would come in soon...

[For Castiel.]

Comments

[freewill]

It wasn't too long after Lloyd had settled with a book he wasn't reading that Castiel stepped into the library. Breakfast hadn't been particularly interesting, though Castiel had to admit to himself that he preferred to be the one offering up information rather than having to ask others for it. It felt like he was one of the patients who was in the know, now, and that was a comfort to him.

He was used to having at least some of the answers, but that hadn't been the case ever since he'd been brought here. This was a good change.

Having already inspected the library plenty in the past few days, Castiel planned to pass the time by reading something that caught his interest, but on his way toward one of the aisles he spotted Lloyd. Lloyd was alone and Castiel didn't see Kratos anywhere closeby, so after a moment of contemplation he elected to head over.

"It hadn't been our intention to leave you behind," he said as he took the seat across from Lloyd. "Are you all right?"

[sixth_attack]

The night before had taken a bigger toll on Sechs than he would have liked to admit to himself, a fact that was later proven once he realized he had slept in through breakfast. Despite the healing he received from Athena, Sechs' hand remained stiff and bruised from being struck by that brainwashed patient's sword. It was better than losing his whole hand or having it bound by some restrictive wrist brace again. Still, Sechs' mood was burdened by exhausting ache and hunger. It didn't help that the nurse who escorted him from his room wouldn't let him get any leftovers from the cafeteria. Instead, he was left to brood to himself in the library.

Uninterested in reading, Sechs took over a couch and grumpily lazed about on it, resting his chin in his uninjured hand as he pondered over last night's events. He knew he and Aigis were one step closer to finding something real important in the basement. Yet the dangers they encountered the night before bothered him. He and Aigis were capable fighters in their own right, but what if Landel had something bigger in store for them...?

Meanwhile, something about the library was nibbling away at Sechs' concentration. It was getting hard to focus on the future when the spot he sat at was reminding him of the past. The last time he was in the library was when he and --

No, don't think about it...

Sechs shook his head. The recollection of his lost friend brought a twinge of pain into his chest. It was too hard to think about. Sighing, Sechs steered his mind away from the past and back to planning for the night ahead. He to focus on the present to help bring Landel down for everyone's sakes, even for those who are no longer around...

[For Taura!]

[dividedby]

Don't let them snoop around too much... Obviously a very suspicious thing for Landel to say, especially during the daytime. But what was more suspicious to Zero at the moment was how Ciel had never shown up to breakfast. He swore he'd been paying very close attention to the prisoner traffic...so why hadn't he seen her? On a related note, he hadn't seen X anywhere either...and this wasn't the first day for this to happen.

His bad feeling only grew worse when, while checking the bulletin board after breakfast, he found a certain note written in unmistakable handwriting. As he took it down from the board to stare at it, he heard his nurse sighing behind him. "Oh, Yūdai..." He turned to look at her, and she simply shook her head at him. "At this point, it's better to let you know."

Know? Zero stared at her, and she smiled apologetically at him. "Ms. Giroux's no longer here," she explained. "I personally feel like putting you two in the same environment was a bad idea, and it will be better for both of you this way."

No longer here. It...no. She couldn't... "Where is she?!" was the first thing out of Zero's mouth.

Naturally, the nurse's tone shifted with his. "Yūdai, calm down. This is exactly what I'm talking about. She upsets you too much! It's making your mental condition worsen."

"That's not what I-"

"I know, but please, rest assured that she's being taken care of, just as you'll be taken care of here. Now, let's go to the library, okay? Take your mind off of her with a good book. How does that sound?"

The dark stare on Zero's face made it all too clear how he felt about this, and the nurse clearly knew that. But fortunately for her, he also knew that there wasn't anything he could do about it here. "...Let me write something," he mumbled, his tone as dark as his expression.

Surprisingly, she said nothing nor tried to stop him; maybe she was feeling bad. Not that Zero cared. He was too busy scribbling a hasty note to X. After tacking it to the board, he turned and walked to the library of his own accord, his nurse following him with an obvious look of concern on her face.

"Why don't you sit down over here, and I'll find you something nice to read, okay?" The worry on her face increased when Zero continued to just stare, and so with a murmur of 'I'll be right back', she hurried off to the shelves. Zero, meanwhile, resigned himself to not sitting. Staring blankly...and thinking. Seemed to be all he was good at for the moment...

[Free!]

[envy_the_sinners]

Scar settled into the library, his mind not even on the secret entrance or the third floor as he took a chair for himself and ignored the books.

Last night had been decidedly less productive than the previous, but Scar could easily put that down to the people involved. Working with Lust was a wildcard, and though he recognized that that was largely due to his own issues, he wasn't willing to change. Lust's short answers to the questions that had bothered him for days had only succeeded at raising more questions on the occurrences in Amestris- questions that she had managed to guilt him out of asking. Her discomfort only proved that there was something deeper, something more sinister than Scar was aware of, that he was now certain he had been a part of without realizing at the time.

God dammit! He should have brought it up while he had the chance. He had let the invasion of Lior slide as the will of God, some mad divine intervention beyond his own understanding. But now it looked like something else. The last day in Lior was a blur in his mind. Had Lust specifically said that the military was supposed to stay put? He could have sworn it... Yet they moved in... And although she undoubtedly shared some sort of connection with the Fuhrer, it was a shaky one at best. Perhaps hostile, even.

Think!

He had been kept alive on purpose- perhaps even followed to ensure his ultimate success. It was only when he was on the verge of death that the homunculi ever showed themselves- Lust and her companion Gluttony. Kimbley's death ensured the military's excuse to invade, which Scar had planned all along. It was the same tactic as Ishbal, and he had made the Liorans certain that they knew that. A secret mission to spark the fighting and make it look like the desert dwellers started the violence. It was sick and underhanded and above all, suspicious. Homunculi sought the Stone, proven by their actions in the fifth laboratory and Lust's determined obsession in Lior. And that was the first time she had appeared alone as well. So that meant... At least Lust, Gluttony, and the Fuhrer knew of his plans. But something had happened that he was unaware of. Somewhere, along the line, something had gone wrong. But what was it?

Scar's thoughts showed through on his face. He was obviously deep in thought, scowling as he stared into the distance and tried to piece together a puzzle that, here and now, did not truly matter. Yet it plagued him. He had been used- a pawn in a larger game that he thought he was in control of.

[Tsubaki! Sorry for the tl;dr, Shira, don't worry about most of it.]

[stop_the_rain]

Murphy still couldn't decide which was worse: prison, Silent Hill, or here.

He was leaning towards here, though, because it seemed to strive to offer the worst of both worlds. All the mind numbing captivity and de-personalization of prison with the pants shitting horror and infuriating mystery of Silent Hill.

How had he gotten so lucky?

The ex-con had evened out to some sort of tired vague sense of confusion over the last couple of days. He just didn't know what to do. Why was he here? He couldn't wrap his mind around it. If it was punishment - which he'd stopped consider it, at least on a divine level - then it was pretty damn interactive punishment. If he was supposed to learn something...

Maybe he just had luck that bad. He'd considered that, all through his life. And as he was ushered into the library, he decided that maybe he just needed to stop thinking about it and read something mindless for a while. So he grabbed a book and settled himself in, figuring he'd just pretend he was back when life was easy. In prison.

[Open!]

[rebonding]

At least Korra had managed to make a little progress last night.

Tsubaki had turned out to be more than a reliable fighting partner, and though she felt badly about beating up Edward, she was also certain he would understand. She did want to talk to him, though, if only for the sake of making sure he was okay.

They were one step closer to getting out of here. Korra just hoped that another brainwashed patient wouldn't be waiting for them in the Sun Room tonight as well. It slowed down the process of getting upstairs more than anything.

Which, she was sure, was the whole point.

Korra smirked as they were led into the library with the instructions not to wander. Yeah sure, Landel, wouldn't want us sneaking off anywhere we shouldn't be.

[Edward!]

[his_legacy]

Another bust. Link felt badly for Alphonse, who had gotten stuck with nowhere to go without his brother. Where was he? The Hylian had heard whispers that somebody else had been brainwashed, but beyond that...

Scowling with vain frustration, Link followed his nurse into the library. Here, at least, he could take a look around for the supposed book of verse that they needed to find. His nurse had other plans.

"Why don't you settle down with a novel, Mr. Miyamoto?"

"I would prefer not to." Link's voice was tense. He continued to inspect along the back wall, ignoring the gentle urgings of his nurse. His patience was wearing dangerously low. He knew it would be unwise to cause a scene, but...

It was beginning to seem like a perfectly reasonable course of action.

[Soushi!]

[knightspirit]

Don't let them snoop around, huh. Could Landel be any more obvious? It was like he was telling them exactly where to look. If Kyousuke didn't already know himself, that would probably be enough to push him to check the room. But it was encouraging in its own way, if stupid. Considering how despondent he seemed about people having found the third floor lately, it must have meant they were on the right track.

It was on that note that Kyousuyke parted ways with Sora and made his way to the Sun Room, briefly scanning the bulletin and finding nothing of particular interest. When he turned to enter the library, however, the nurse stopped to scold him.

"Mr. Taylor! You should be resting! You do want your fever to go down, don't you?"

"If I'm just going to be sitting around, does it really matter which room I'm in?" the boy pointed out.

The nurse frowned at him and relented, although by the time he actually entered the library, he wasn't sure why he'd insisted he come anymore. Maybe it would be better to go lay down on a couch; he certainly wasn't going to be able to focus enough too read through anything like this. ... He guessed that best thing he could do was put his head down at one of the tables. Just for a little while. It might help clear some of the fog, and he'd be in trouble if he couldn't focus properly when night finally came.

[ Kratooossss ]