Night 74: West Wing, Hall 3-A

[forsworn]

[from here]

By some miracle, the very door they had been seeking was immediately to their left. Kratos found himself double-checking the wording on the sign posted next to the door to confirm that yes, this really was the Records Archive. After so many nights spent wandering through rooms and physically straining himself in ways that were incredibly healthy, it was just a little anti-climatic to turn the corner and find exactly what they were looking for.

"Finally," he breathed. He tested the lock out of formality; as he'd expected, it held fast. Above the door handle, though, was a little black slot - a card reader exactly like the one that had graced the door to the third floor and many others in Welgaia. Castiel seemed to be in charge of the keycards, so Kratos stepped aside to allow the angel to unlock the door.

Comments

[redcladidealist]

Anti-climactic or not, Lloyd felt only relief and budding excitement when his eyes caught the words on the plate by the door. Even the lettering looked like a match for the faded and worn letters on their cards. This was it. They'd finally made it somewhere. They could finally get something done. He danced impatiently from foot to foot as he waited for Castiel to open the door.

"What do you think will be in there?" he asked, unable to hold himself in silence anymore. "There's supposed to be something in there that'll help us get home, right? Do you think it's in a book? Or maybe it's a gate like the Otherworldly Gate! Maybe that's how they got us from our worlds!" He didn't remember going through any such gate, but he could explain that flaw away easily enough. He'd been sick with the poison (or whatever it had been) that he still suspected Yuan had somehow given him. It wasn't surprising he couldn't remember what happened.

The thought that they might be so close to the way home, though, made him want to rush forward and try his key. In the back of his mind, he was already forming plans for how to break the door down if for some reason the key cards didn't work. A well-placed Beast, or maybe if Kratos his the lock with a fireball to weaken the metal right before Lloyd struck it with his sword. Or maybe they could...

He waited, tense, almost holding his breath, to see if he would need any of those plans after Castiel slid his card through the lock.

[freewill]

Castiel also found himself almost underwhelmed when they turned the corner and the room they were looking for was sitting right there, unassumingly.

He wasn't one to question good fortune, though, and considering how much they'd already been through, he'd say they deserved it. He wasn't sure why he'd been given the job of operating the keys when he was just as deficient with technology as Kratos, but he chose not to question it.

Castiel might not be as outwardly excitable as Lloyd, but that didn't mean he wasn't tense as he stepped up to the door and slid the key card inside. This was it, the moment they'd been anticipating. Inside this door was apparently their key to get home.

He didn't delay, and didn't bother answering Lloyd's questions when they were about to see for themselves. As soon as the door beeped and unlocked, Castiel led them inside.

[To here.]

[fourstonewalls]

[from here]

Lana strode straight for the archive room door, pulling out the keycard as she went. It slid through the slot, and the door clicked -- no disorientation, no teleportation, just a soft little click. Gotcha! She turned the handle, and pulled the door open.

There was nothing to it -- if they were walking into a trap, there was little they could do about it; trying to survey the interior carefully just left them vulnerable in the hallway, so she stepped right in.

[to here]

[fourstonewalls]

[from here]

One of the main hallways, in fact, which meant, what, precisely? She took a few steps away from the end, and started looking at the doors that had nameplates. They'd been in a storage room. Next door were two restrooms, doors wide open (and no purple light of a teleport pad in evidence, although they'd have to go in to be certain).

And then, what she'd expected but not wanted to see -- Records Archive. They were back where they'd been a few minutes ago. "What's the point of a maze that leads you back to the beginning," she said, light illuminating the sign. "What else is down here?" They hadn't checked the entire upstairs before starting on their trip the night before; perhaps they'd taken a wrong turn, and the archives was all they were going to be allowed to discover.

[ryuuzaki]

"Just a door." He holstered his gun. It would be better to have it ready--those bathroom doors were close, and they hadn't cleared the rooms to see if anything might be in them--but he also needed a free hand. The alternative was shoving the flashlight between his hip and the waistband of his pants, something that would require stowing the pistol first regardless.

He tried the handle. If they were lucky, it'd be unlocked. If not, it might be possible to break it open. The other group had been forced to in a similar hall the night before.

They weren't lucky, but the handle did jiggle--the lock felt loose. No noises from beyond the door.

He turned his face to Lana. "I'm going to try to kick it in. Please cover me." From the open hall, and from what might be inside.

A side kick would probably be the most effective. He stood away from the door as she got her pistol out, and, with a few preliminary motions, gauged the best distance and the approximate force he wanted to use.

When they were both ready, he slammed the flat of his foot against the door near the handle.

It popped open.

[To here. Lana godmodded with permission.]

[his_legacy]

[From here]

Link was starting to put together an idea of all of this. The Sun Room was directly to the east from here. They were two floors above the sleeping spaces. He checked behind him, looking for some indication of a staircase. Would they leave only one entrance and exit like this?

[lighthearted]

It would have been pretty easy to map out the third floor if they weren't getting bounced around it all the time. Still, at least they were able to place themselves some of the time. Sora didn't know how much that would help them, but it was still something to keep in mind.

Right on their left was the door with a plaque next to it that read Records Archive.

Sora dug his key card out of his pocket and smiled at Link. "Here we go," he said, sliding the card through the slot on the door. It unlocked and granted them access, and he didn't hesitate to lead them inside.

[To here.]

[lighthearted]

[From here.]

And now they were in... the same hall as before? Wasn't the Records Archive off to the right?

"What is this?" Sora grumbled, dragging a hand through his hair. "We just keep going in circles!"

Landel probably wanted them to feel this way, though, to give up before they ever reached him, and he definitely wasn't going to do that. Sora turned the other direction, where there was one more door they could try, and it looked like this one had already been broken open. "Hey, look at this," he called over to Link.

[his_legacy]

Link's heart sank as they stepped out into the hall. That meant they'd missed something. Or were missing something. Either way, they had a long and frustrating night ahead of them.

But that door...

Somebody had done the heavy lifting for them. That feeling of dread vanished, and Link sprang immediately for the snapped open door, realizing that it could well be a trap, but it was there last lead, and it had to work.

[To here]