damned_institute | Night 74: Main Hallway, 1-Center

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Night 74: Main Hallway, 1-Center

[From here.]

He hadn't seen any sign of Kratos all day. Lloyd hadn't thought his father had looked that badly injured after his ordeal in that chamber, but how did he know Kratos hadn't downplayed his injuries? Maybe he didn't even know the full extent himself. After all, who would have experience with what it did to a person to have the air sucked out of the room?

Maybe I just didn't see him. The thought wasn't as reassuring as it could have been. He knew how much he'd been trying to keep an eye out for the man, telling himself it was just so he could share his theory about the cards. It was still possible he'd been distracted at a crucial moment when Kratos passed by, so he stubbornly continued to deny the leaden weight in his gut as he settled into place to wait. He wasn't worried. Kratos would come just as he always did. He'd probably laugh if he found out that Lloyd had been (not worried) just... just concerned.

Okay, maybe Kratos wouldn't laugh, but still. He didn't need to see anything but Lloyd standing and waiting. Totally nonchalant. He could totally pull that off.

...dammit, he hoped they didn't catch him fidgeting when Kratos or Castiel finally showed up.

[For Castiel and Kratos.]

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[From here.]

Seeing how Castiel was usually the first one to make it to the meeting spot, he was surprised to find Lloyd already there, in his usual outfit and carrying his new lantern by his waist. The extra light source would help, especially seeing how it kept Lloyd's hands free.

Castiel's, on the other hand, were not, though he lowered his flashlight as he approached.

"I brought the cards with me." All three of them had ended up in his box, seeing how he'd been the one to grab them right before night ended, but he pulled them out of his pocket (awkwardly, with the hand holding his flashlight) and then handed one to Lloyd.

They still weren't certain what they were used for, but they had to be important. Hopefully the answer would become clear as soon as they got back upstairs.

After the conversation he'd had with Lana on the bulletin board, Lloyd thought he had an idea what they'd need to do with the key cards that night. He reached eagerly for the one Castiel offered. "Thanks," he said. "I talked with some people about these, and I'm pretty sure they're supposed to be keys." He had no idea how that actually worked, but maybe there was some kind of magic or spell embedded in the plastic card. He hadn't thought to ask. If it works, it works.

He couldn't wait for a chance to try it out. Before they could get on their way, though...

He glanced around. "You haven't seen Kratos, have you?" He wasn't worried. He wasn't. He was just impatient. That was it.

They were keys? Castiel didn't know why they couldn't look like normal keys. They'd already gotten a set like that, so why change things around on them? It didn't make any sense to him, but if Lloyd said that's what they were, then he would have to take his word for it. They'd be finding out soon enough, and so he nodded. "Good work on researching it."

So Lloyd also hadn't seen Kratos. Castiel glanced down the hall, crossing his arms over his chest.

"No, I haven't. Let's give him a few minutes." Kratos didn't seem like the type who would not make an appointment as important as this, but then again, he might not be in good enough health to come.

Lloyd hadn't been expecting praise. Definitely not praise on his research. He hadn't even thought of it like that. It had just been something he thought was important to know. Even so, rare praise like that earns a small, surprised smile as he runs a hand through his hair, slightly self-conscious. "Thanks. I mean, I just wanted to know what they were." It hadn't even been all that hard. He'd just asked, and someone had given him an answer. That definitely beat having to hunt through a stack of books for a paper he didn't even want to write.

The smile fades at the lack of news about Kratos, though. If neither of them had seen him since yesterday, then he probably hadn't been out of bed. Was he-?

"I'm here." Kratos's quiet voice cut through the dark, and cut off Lloyd's thoughts before they could take on an anxious note. The teen snapped his head up and around in time to watch the older man close the distance between with brisk, self-assured steps. He looked all right, but... "Shall we be off?" If there was anything wrong, he wasn't letting it show.

Sometimes it was asking those questions that was the most important part of gathering information, and so Castiel still saw it as crucial. He nodded in return, but didn't say anything further, not until Kratos came along a few moments later.

It was difficult to tell how Kratos was really feeling, as he had the same stony expression as always. Not that Castiel was one to judge when it came to something like that, but it did make it difficult to determine how much they'd need to keep an eye on him as they continued their search.

"Let's go," Castiel agreed after a pause before he led all three of them into the Sun Room.

[To here.]

[[from here]]

They hadn't precisely agreed on a place to meet, but one way or another he would need to pass through here to find Aidou in any case, and vice versa. Sasuke lingered in the main hallway for a moment, sweeping the darkened hallway with a moment's worth of the Sharingan for any chakra he recognized.

If Aidou wasn't already here, he'd go find him for once.

[for Aidou]

Edited 2013-12-21 03:48 (UTC)

_{[from here]}

Aidou was thinking along the same lines: rather than try to backtrack and look for Sasuke in the empty halls, he thought pushing forward would save the most time, given people's tendency to spill out of the cell blocks and congregate in the main corridor.

Both of their hunches seemed to be right when Aidou entered the 1-West hall and almost immediately noticed a raven head of hair some distance down the hall, near the Sun Room. Aha! Sasuke had managed to stay up past his nap time, apparently.

Good. If the damn ring was going to stay in the equation, using it would have been quite troublesome when it was in Sasuke's possession.

"Sasuke," he greeted on his way over. "Glad to see you're a creature of the night again."

Sasuke spotted the smear of ice-blue chakra at the same time as it started to head over to him, and he blinked the Sharingan out of his eyes and walked forward to meet Aidou -- only to be met with a comment on his sleeping habits. A comment that was unfortunately true, and had no solution he could come up with yet short of asking his roommate to possibly punch him every time he slept.

"At least Landel has a cure for insomnia," he said, growled irritation, and suppressed a sigh. In any case, he was awake now, at least, and had the ring on his hand. "We're headed to the third floor again tonight, then?

"I didn't notice anything out of the usual during the day today. Do you think the security breach held?"

"I don't suppose you can really fault me for my surprise," he replied loftily. He was on his way to crossing one arm beneath the other before he remembered he very well couldn't. Not if they were to use the ring and he needed something to hold onto.

Instead, he straightened his back and let his arms drop.

"I'm thinking the third floor is a good an area as any to focus on at the moment. If the radio people insist on another go at Landel, likely we'll see the effects there." Because other than Landel's sullen attitude, he hadn't sensed anything amiss during the day, either. "Whatever happens," he added as an afterthought, knowing the quiet could mean many different things, good and bad.

He couldn't, really, given his own regular surprise at being conscious, and the real power of the Institute was that the thought wasn't one that inspired rage anymore -- just the raw edge of the seeping disappointment he'd thought he'd trained his way out of. Literally, with blades and jutsu, but stripped of it in this place he was left with the bare knowledge of how much he couldn't measure up to what this world offered.

But for all its familiarity, that hadn't stopped him before, and in the end he just levelled an impatient look at Aidou until the vampire moved on to the more practical matter at hand. As usual, they tended to agree on said practical matters, Sasuke lifting the ring as an answer.

Setting a hand on Aidou's shoulder and hoping, as always, for time, he smashed the jewel.

[[to here]]

[From here]

Scar approached the Sun Room doors slowly and peered into the darkness. He turned his light to face away in an effort to avoid detection from whatever may be inside. There were no signs of a commotion, as there hadn't been last night, but anything could be lurking in the dark.

Especially now that there were so few of them left.

Lust stayed close, not speaking as they made their way through the eerily quiet asylum. She offered no words of caution or insistence that she go first. It really didn't matter, and it seemed as though the heavy guard had been reduced in light of their own reduced numbers.

It was as quiet as it had been the night previous.

Scar kept his light on as he stepped into the Sun Room. It was either that or rely almost completely on Lust's eyes, which he was hesitant to do. It wasn't for lack of trust; one person looking out for two people simply made less sense than risking detection. There hadn't even been anything in here these past two nights.

Why Landel wasn't increasing the guard at the point where they all were guaranteed to be was beyond Scar.

[To here]

[from here]

The main hall had begun to fill up. Several groups had passed as she had waited, and here two more men were waiting -- enough light from her flashlight picked out one's eponymous feature, and the other she'd passed more times than she could count but had never actually spoken to.

"We haven't been ambushed for several nights." That that was no guarantee either of an attack or of safety went without saying.

"I can't say I'd rather we had been, but it does make me wonder when the other shoe will drop... or it might have something to do with our numbers. We're nothing to worry about, or there are few enough of us now that he'd rather not kill us. There's also the matter of his sabotaged equipment, but without knowing what it was...."

He trailed off in a way that indicated that he thought the matter was in the air. "To be honest, I won't care why, as long as it continues, and as long as the reason isn't vital to us getting out of here."

They were close enough to the Sun Room now that he didn't want to use even his lowest voice; he fell silent as they approached the door. Then, it was a repetition of the previous night. They listened to the big room on the other side as he drew his gun, then they timed their entrance together with looks and nods.

[To here.]

_{[from here]}

There were no signs of trouble the closer they got, which was good for them. They still had the Sun Room itself to contend with, and if Tsubaki knew the Institute like she thought she did, the chances of something or someone dangerous setting up camp there for the night was high.

Maybe luck would be on their side and it would be quiet again tonight...

"So far, so good."

"Here comes the fun part." Korra took a steadying breath as she stepped beyond the threshold to the Sun Room, where she knew Landel liked to set up his brainwashed bodyguards.

Another flare of rage at that thought.

[To here]

[From here.]

They were almost to the Sun Room, which meant that soon there wouldn't be the time for idle chatting. They'd have to be alert in case there was some kind of guard waiting for them.

So as they walked, Sora decided to ask the question that had been forming in his mind before it was too late. "Hey, Link... are you an elf? Do you work with Santa?"

Most of the elves he'd seen had been a lot shorter, but that didn't mean that there weren't other kinds of elves, right?

Link turned to Sora and raised his eyebrows as he walked. An... elf? Was Santa a person?

"I've never heard of either of those things." He smiled slightly. "Now you have to explain them, though." His smile widened. Something silly like this was perfect for getting his mind off things.

They really shouldn't be wasting time on something like this right now, not when they had such an important mission ahead of them, but Sora couldn't hold back now that he'd gotten this kind of response.

"You don't know who Santa is? Wow, your world must be really different from the other ones I've heard about, then!"

Not that every world had to have Santa in it, but still, it was a shock. Sora had heard stories about Santa even when he lived in Destiny Islands and had never seen snow for himself.

"Basically, it all starts with Christmas, which is this special holiday that happens in winter. There are a lot of things to it, but the important thing is that you spend time with family and exchange presents! But Santa is the one who delivers all the presents, and his elves have a workshop to help him with it."

It probably sounded really strange to someone who'd never heard of it before. Maybe Sora could find a book about Christmas so that Link could at least see some pictures...

At least Sora was gracious enough to assume that Link hadn't the faintest clue what Christmas was. He burst out with a small laugh in spite of himself at the explanation of these 'evles'.

"No, then, I am certainly not an 'elf'." A pause. "I take it they have long ears?" The funny hats, Link never would have guessed. This tunic and cap combo is not only fashionable, it's sacred.

SACRED, SORA!

Sora wasn't all that bothered by Link laughing. If anything, he thought it was impressive that he'd actually gotten that kind of reaction out of him. It wasn't that easy to make Link laugh!

"They do!" Sora confirmed. "They also wear hats that are a little bit like yours, so that's what made me think of it."

Still, it was clear that this was just a coincidence, and they really couldn't waste any more time talking about it. "Oh well! We'd better move on."

Sora couldn't help but notice that Tsurugi wasn't waiting for them here. Maybe he was up ahead in the library, but even Sora had to admit that it wasn't looking good for their friend. With a sigh, he stepped into the Sun Room.

[To here.]

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Night 74: Main Hallway, 1-Center

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