Night 74: Secret Stairs

[freewill]

[From here.]

At this point they all knew the steps to get up to the third floor's entrance, and so Castiel didn't hesitate to step onto the escalator, expecting the others to keep up as it started moving.

As they made the short trip to the top, Castiel shifted around to look back at Kratos in particular. This area had been safe of any kind of monsters every time they'd been here, so he was willing to let his guard down at least enough to ask a question.

"How are you feeling?" He needed to assess what kind of state Kratos was in, so that he would be able to factor in how much or how little help he could expect him to be if they were attacked. Clearly Kratos could walk fine on his own, but being deprived of oxygen for so long still may have had some lingering effects.

Comments

[envy_the_sinners]

Adjusting slowly to the harsh, unnatural light, Scar's reaction was similar to Lust's. He grasped the sword the Elrics gave him more firmly, ears tuned in for any sign of movement beyond their footsteps. None came. When he could finally open his eyes to the blue and purple splotches nearly flooding his vision, Scar stepped forward toward the moving staircase.

"I think we're alone."

[a_sin_for_him]

"Wait, I can't see well, it's going to take me a few moments..."

Lust's homunculus eyes were still adjusted to the darkness, the light hurt and all she could see when she opened her eyes were blurs and shadows. She could feel it like small stabs into her skull. She closed her eyes an her other hand found Scar's shoulder out of necessity, simply for guidance.

"Alright."

[envy_the_sinners]

Scar paused, his own eyes gradually becoming more usable in the brightness. He rested his hand on the back of her shoulder, gently urging her in the right direction. The longer they stagnated, the longer they waited for something horrific to find them.

Then, the radio went off.

Scar jumped significantly, staring at the thing in shock for a moment before responding.

[a_sin_for_him]

Lust stayed silent, her blurry eyes flicking from Scar to the radio as the Ishbalan handled the transmitting. She felt a strange sort of nervousness, likely because this was the surest sign so far that they had some chance of escaping this place.

Her hand tightened on Scar's shoulder. Neither one of them had anything to return to, in their home world, but as long as they could get out of this place...

[envy_the_sinners]

Scar had no intention of using the information for himself. He doubted Lust wanted it, either. But if it could get the Elrics home...

"Could you hold that-" he looked to Lust briefly and held the radio out for her to take so that he could slip his journal from inside his robes.

[a_sin_for_him]

She nodded and took the radio, watching Scar. The strange anxious nervousness she felt was something new. It wasn't hope - she knew what that was, and it was a quieter and more determined feeling. This was hectic and frantic, and she supposed this was desperation.

Because at this point she was desperate for any small scrap that would bring them closer. After so many nights of dead ends and walls and too little time, finally there was some small pay off.

And perhaps it was a sign of turning luck.

[envy_the_sinners]

As the boy recited the supposed coordinate numbers for Amestris, Scar scribbled them onto a blank page of his journal. He closed the pen inside it, slipping the book back into his robes.

"Will you be needing the number?" He glanced to Lust, wanting to make sure.

[a_sin_for_him]

Lust shook her head. They weren't the ones who needed it, and as long as one of them had it written down, it would get where it needed to.

"You have it." Her eyes were well adjusted now and she gave a nod. "Come on, let's keep going."

[envy_the_sinners]

Scar only nodded, finally stepping onto the moving staircase and toward the door at the top. They had wasted enough time in here. He had assumed Lust wouldn't be wanting the number, but that still led to the question...

"I doubt there is anybody here that could help you attain your goal." He turned to glance over his shoulder at her as he ascended the stairs. He assumed that she understood what he was getting at. If they wound up stranded here, the humanity she had claimed to seek in the past would be almost certainly out of reach.

[a_sin_for_him]

Lust shrugged before following after Scar.

He wasn't telling her anything she hadn't considered already. But she thought of the power this place had, what had been done to them, and still she wondered. Alchemy did work here, after all. Was it truly so mad to think that somewhere there was someone or something who could make her human?

Of course it begged the question of whether or not she even wanted it anymore. She'd met others here, not-quite-human, who were perfectly content and at peace with what they were. Why couldn't she be? Wasn't who she was more important than what she was?

"Who can say?" she finally said. "I don't think it matters much, anymore."

[envy_the_sinners]

Scar's eyes narrowed. He continued forward, reaching the top of the moving steps and beginning to open the door that he knew led to the exercise room. There was no point in getting distracted. However-

"It doesn't matter?" He turned to face her, honestly perplexed. "We've been here for two weeks." She a little longer, but it was still a valid point in Scar's eyes, even if the weeks had felt like more.

"You'd throw away your best chance so quickly?" He was more shocked than anything else. Scar knew very little of her background, but he could tell that humanity had been in the works for a long time. Was that the goal of her "group?" The reasoning behind the activity at Laboratory 5? That had been why she had been there, he at least knew that.

[a_sin_for_him]

"For what? There's nothing left for me, back home. What's the point of humanity if I'll only be alone and lonely?"

There wasn't any reason to be coy or close mouthed. Not any longer. And Scar seemed to genuinely want an answer, a real answer. The least she could do was give it to him.

Her tone was mild, but tired, and she didn't hold Scar's eyes when she spoke.

"I don't have any home. I don't have any family or friends. I don't even know if the rest of my kind are even still alive. Where would I go? What would I do? No. A human life in our home world doesn't matter anymore."

[envy_the_sinners]

She hadn't considered any of these things before? But Scar left his cold logic unspoken, even pushed away. No home. No family, friends, or even a purpose. Those were exactly the thoughts that had circled about Scar's mind whenever he allowed it to wander. He had been rebelling against this place not for his own benefit, but for the others'. He truly didn't have anything to do with his life. He had devoted himself to vengeance, been willing to throw what little he had away because he couldn't bring himself to rebuild.

What was he supposed to do now?

Could he try it all again? Scar would never be able to truly leave it all behind, even if he gave it the most honest effort someone like him could manage. But he could live, couldn't he? Find some semblance of the normalcy he had so long been denied? His mind wandered to the photograph pressed carefully inside his journal. Scar wouldn't know if his brother was truly out there until he got some real answers about this place, but...

Was it selfish, that some part of him was relieved to know that she was staying? It was certainly strange. It wasn't so awful, when she was around, and Scar couldn't even deny that she understood him like nobody else truly could, simply because of who and what she was. She was a slap in the face and a soothing presence in the same moment. But, in a life that would soon be devoid of everything but a goose chase for a ghost in a photograph, she was someone. Maybe that was what mattered most.

A moment later, (Scar couldn't really say how long he stood there and thought on her words) he glanced away, suddenly remembering that he should say something, or at least move forward to the next room. He only managed a small nod, not even sure if she saw it. Strangely subdued, he finally opened the trapdoor that led to the third floor.

[To here]