Nightshift 25: 2nd floor hallway near staff research/medical reference library

[itneverwas.livejournal.com]

[From here]

If a being that lacked his heart could somehow have a heart attack, Xemnas would certainly have one as soon as the radio broke the deafening silence. As the man blurted his message, the Nobody found himself torn between listening to said message or trying to silence it. It would seem he had no choice in the matter, even despite the possible foes the noise would certainly attract. If it was possible for Xemnas to do so, he would certainly regret bringing the item along this little trip.

Naturally a curious man, the message was merely fuel to the fire. Where the Dead rested..., certainly some of the patients must have perished during their stay, leaving a mere corpse behind. There was no graveyard to speak of, yet those bodies needed to be stored somewhere...

Even so, the Superior had no idea where he could find such a place, as he still hadn't fully mapped the institute. Added to the fact he still had no decent weapon...it seemed incredibly unwise to pursue the supposed clue unless he would have some means to defend himself. There was also the possibility it was a trap. How much could this man of the radio be trusted, after all? What could be said of him?

He continued ascending the stairs, eventually reaching the very spot he had been a few nights ago. He had gone straight ahead back then, now there were both the options of left and right. After a moment's pause, he finally chose to head left.

[To here]

Comments

[killing-suzie.livejournal.com]

[from here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/149847.html?view=10064727#t10064727)]

Jack took his time going up the stairs, as usual. He wasn't in any kind of hurry, and Gin had always been pretty patient with the whole process. Because Gin wasn't a moron. While they hadn't actually been attacked on the stairs before, he wasn't going to assume that it would always be like that.

He made it to the top of the stairs without anything eating his face. That was always a good thing. He paused at the top, flashlight shining on his feet, and listened for a while. Then he started forward, to the hall he remembered the kitchen being down.

[traitors-smile.livejournal.com]

Jack took up the lead and Gin followed, as seemed to have become their routine. They agreed on several points it appeared. Gin would've liked to try some of the radio man's hunts, but he still didn't know the layout well enough to decipher the clues. Why bother with them? It wasn't as though the head doctor wouldn't know exactly where they were.

But with the kitchen, he had mentioned not just cutlery, but swords. It was at least a small possibility. But "where the dead wait?" Unless the place had some sort of cemetary... possible, or some place they kept the bodies prior to a funeral... also possible, but not something he'd like to dwell on, he didn't know where else that might be. They'd seen plenty of things that ought to have been dead. Rotting and foul. But he'd no clue where the creatures waited.

"Might be wise t'start lookin' for a proper map then," Gin commented. His memory was good enough that he could keep track of the places they'd been so far without drawing them up, but if the message boards were any indication, there were others that had likely mapped out most of the rest of the building. It wasn't that large. "Otherwise it's jus' takin' shots in th' dark."

[[to here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/157292.html#comments)]]

[wantsyourzex.livejournal.com]

ZEX ascended the stairs slowly, trying hard not to trip. His human legs did not respond very quickly at times, and he'd already fallen a few times and scraped up his palms, which was annoying. Careful, careful, and ignore how much he was shaking... human adrenaline was worthless, what good was it to have a bodily reaction that only made it more difficult to function?

ZEX ran his flashlight over his surroundings at the top of the stairs, looking around carefully. His double vision made it difficult to make out individual objects, and the darkness didn't help matters much... he squinted one eye shut and tried to take stock. Empty, and quiet. Unnerving... ZEX hoped that his luck would hold, and no creatures would find him.

ZEX rested one hand against the wall, and he slowly made his way along the hallway, further down into the darkness.

[wantsyourzex.livejournal.com]

[broken-exorcist.livejournal.com]

[[From here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/149847.html)]]

He opened his mouth to answer Ichigo's question, but Ravi supplied an explanation, at least somewhat. They climbed the stairs, beams of light bouncing as they went. He turned back to Ichigo, "We're mapping out the places that haven't been explored yet. In hope of finding something useful I imagine." Ravi's Innocence for one. If they could find that... It would be a simple matter to escape. His hammer could rocket them right out of this place.

[haiiro-no-chou.livejournal.com]

Flashlight beam sweeping the stairs, and the ceiling of the hallway visible above them, Rukia took the stairs quietly. She didn't look back at Ichigo, but her words were directed at him. "Like Allen said, we're just trying to find anything useful. We're all being kept here against our will, and we need to find a way to defeat the man in charge here, and escape."

When she reached the top of the landing, Rukia paused to look around, then took a few more steps, allowing the others to join her. "Can I see the map again?" she asked Allen. "And, I'm sure it's fine that you left the stone in your room. You wouldn't want it to fall out of your pocket or something." She spoke quietly, attention focused more on the map than on her words. "Oh, and Ichigo isn't exactly like the rest of us. He's, uh, what did Captain Ukitake call your position, Ichigo?"

She waved her hand vaguely in her friend's direction, plotting a mental course on the map. One way seemed as good as another, but Rukia reasoned that the locations marked as "lab" and "prep" room might hold weapons. Maybe some of those knives they used in surgeries or something. Plus, there were some other rooms down there that hadn't been explored. Nodding to herself, and trying to look more confident than she felt, Rukia folded the map up and handed it back to Allen.

"Okay, there are some rooms down here that haven't been explored yet. And we might find something useful. I'll take point." She turned, looking at the three young men. "You guys can figure out where you want to be, but keep an eye out behind us." With that, she turned and started down the hallway.

[seizethesun.livejournal.com]

She wasn't prepared to sigh of relief just yet. Frozen, she cast a fretful glance right and left. Neither way seemed welcoming. Oh, she knew this was a bad idea right from the start...

[floraltempest.livejournal.com]

MOMO paused a few steps from the top, biting her lower lip gently. Although she had been excited at first, the second floor was new territory; there was no telling what could be lurking around. Then again, nowhere was really safe at night, and she had wanted to do something... Turning back now would be kind of pointless.

So, taking a deep breath, the realian hurried up the last few stairs-- and nearly ran straight into another girl. Though she was able to stop herself before physically colliding with the girl, she let out a short 'eep!' and also managed to drop her flashlight.

"Ah, I-I'm sorry," MOMO quickly apologized as she retrieved her flashlight once more. "Are you okay?"

[barium-bullet.livejournal.com]

[[Coming from here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/149847.html?thread=10287447#t10287447).]]

About a minute went by as Yazoo reached the second floor landing and looked around to make sure the coast was clear. When he didn’t spot any immediate dangers, he felt it safe to look back at the stairs while waiting for his companion to catch up. While the guy seemed a tad off in the head, the light Bast was carrying around would no doubt come in handy at some point or another, so he had no qualms about the man accompanying him.

And speaking of that light…

When Basts had made it up the stairs, Yazoo gestured toward the wand and asked curiously, “So, what is that thing?”

[rabastlestrange.livejournal.com]

Yazoo was now officially Bast's new Best Friend.

He was delighted to discover that unlike most, Yazoo didn't look at him as if he were a moron. Well aware of the image he projected, Bast still disliked it when people spoke to him as if he were a fool. If there was one thing a Lestrange had never been, it was a fool. Secondly, Yazoo didn't act as if he were a burden that had to be picked up and toted around whether he wanted to or not. That scored the remnant major cookie points in his book.

Therefore, Bast was more than happy to trail along after Yazoo, staying silent for once. Maybe that one brain cell was working or Bast's stupid act really was little more than an act. Giggles had to be smothered at the man's mewing, that delighting Bast right down to the bottom of his dark little soul. Oh yes, he liked Yazoo.

Peeking around the cornre with bright-eyed interest, it took Bast a minute to catch what Yazoo meant by 'thing'. Glancing at the wand, Bast grinned cheerfully. He had a friend, even if there weren't any monsters yet.

"It's a wand! I'm a wizard. I used to be able to cast all sorts of wonderful things with it like the Death Curse, but I don't think it's working properly. Must be all this Muggle stuff around," he replied, giving 'Muggle' the same amount of distaste that one of them would have given 'Shin-Ra'. Bast paused there, eyeing Yazoo thoughtfully. Nah, couldn't be. His new best friend couldn't be one! Muggles were terrible and diseased things, not like his pretty new friend! Why, they even had matching hair although Yazoo's was nice and smooth while Bast's tended to be a bit more ragged. Azkaban hadn't been the best place for hairstyles.

"You're not a Muggle, are you? You can do magic and the like, believe it, right? You're not one of them that think magic doesn't exist or that wizards should be burned?"

[he-never-dies.livejournal.com]

[[From here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/149847.html?view=10463831#t10463831).]]

Unlike the previous areas, this one did seem to have an assortment of people in little clusters waiting and talking. He saw no one whom he recognized, not that he expected to run across any of them, and so he cut across the hallway and moved left at a casual pace. He had his eyes on the far hallway and his heart set on a quick exit from this place.

[he-never-dies.livejournal.com]

[[To here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/158885.html).]]

[lost-metal.livejournal.com]

[From here (hhttp://community.livejournal.com/damned/149062.html?view=10466630#t10466630)]

The trip to the upper hall was an uneventful one, for all the oddness of being followed by so many people. Such a large group made a poor target for the place's creatures apparently. Even they must have been smart enough to avoid risking themselves against ten people, several of whom bore arms.

Ed left the stairwell and stepped out onto the second floor, looking around warily. they'd been lucky so far, but he doubted that whatever they had guarding the MU rooms would be quite as reluctant to attack them as the normal cats and rats.

He glanced back at the group and stepped to one side to give them more space to move. He went over to Renji as soon as he arrived, in his mind seeing Renji as the leader of their little group, apart from himself of course. He pointed up one of the other corridors. "It's the first door along there. I'll be surprised if it isn't locked though."

[norainu]

Renji nodded sharply. "Understood," he said. Then gave Ed a feral grin. Whatever their argument had been, it was forgotten for now - at least as far as he was concerned. "If it is, it won't be for long."

[to here]

[janus-006.livejournal.com]

Only fifty pages in? Alec thought to himself as he finished the steps slightly behind Javert. No wonder, if Sohma had given him the unabridged version. "It's a slow-moving book," he said casually. "Give it some time, at least, the next chance you can read it. You might be reminded of someone."

This was probably a bad time for him to say that he somewhat identified with Valjean, so he didn't. No need to drive Javert even more insane than he was likely to go once he hit the part about Montreuil-sur-Mer.

[unmocked-lawr.livejournal.com]

Javert had to hold back a smirk. "Who, the bishop? I'm afraid he doesn't remind me of anyone in particular..."

But his voice drifted off - because that wasn't exactly true, was it? Javert had never been one for paperwork - he preferred to keep information inside his head - and he rarely forgot names. And now, as he concentrated, rifling through the files in his mind, the name he'd seen on the first page of the novel appeared again.

"Monseigneur Charles-François-Bienvenu Myriel," he murmured, more to himself than Trevelyan. Yes, the name was a familiar one. But where had he read it before?

[notachick.livejournal.com]

Hallways and darkness were all that awaited them at the top of the stairs, Okita's flashlight cutting through the darkness and casting a yellow circle on the floor. Raven had said the pharmacy was near the railed area to the right, so he turned his light in that direction. It didn't quite reach, but he could tell that the hallways opened up over there. That, however, meant there was more danger that way - fewer places to hide should anything go wrong. Keeping his flashlight on, Okita motioned to Simon and padded off in that direction.

[reversebemylot.livejournal.com]

No need to nod now, in the dark. Simon followed, the only evidence of his managed unease the sweat in his palm, making his grip on the flashlight slick. Fine, it would be fine; he knew he wouldn't drop it, wouldn't need to hit anything with it as what good would that do? Simon had accepted a degree of helplessness by requesting help, and he proceeded with his pharmaceutical focus. Strung up in the band of his pants: the pillowcase, stripped from his pillow, into which he intended to place whatever he found. Simon doubted the pharmacy would have spare bags lying about, certainly not of fine leather, with silver engravings...

He shook the thought from mind, the memory of certainty and steady hands. Alert, important to remain alert.

[following here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/170226.html)]

[never-learns.livejournal.com]

[From here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/149847.html?view=10579287#t10579287)]

Yohji looked warily around the door at the top of the stairs before deciding that it was clear and stepping outside. He ushered Aya to follow him and then glanced around, a considering frown on his face. They'd gone right the other night, heading to the chapel. That hadn't worked out, but he had no idea where the morgue was from their current position.

Finally he pointed up the corridor. "Let's try up there. Might at least find somethin useful or get an idea of the layout."

[seiran314.livejournal.com]

Aya followed Yohji wordlessly until he blond paused to point out the hallway, which was when he stopped as well, to stare up where Yohji was pointing at. He nodded, trying for vain to forget the churning nausea within his stomach, trying to remind himself that losing it in front of Yohji would not help either one of them. It was just another dream of Kikyo.

The hallway looked just as fine to him as any of the others and he headed towards it without another word to Yohji.

[to here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/158885.html?thread=10586021#t10586021)]

[sugarsweetblood.livejournal.com]

It looked the same even after getting up the stairs! Just what the heck was going on in those idiots heads?! Where was her Allen-kin?! And Tiki... though he wasn't as important as Allen-kun...

Fists pressed tightly against her waist, she strutted out of the stair well, looking around for anyone she might know. No one was here, but just a bit down the hallway, she just happened to see that very familiar glow. There! The smile that crossed her lips was far wider than any she'd gotten that night. She broke into a full run towards the light, catching his voice as she got closer.

"Alleeeeeeeeeeeeeeen-kuuuuuuuuuuuuuuun~!!" Finally!

[muted-flame.livejournal.com]

Getting up to the second floor didn't take long at all. It was only one stairwell, after all. Though Roy had to wonder what laid above them now. He could tell from the outside that the building had to reach higher than two stories, but there was no sign of other stairways that would take them closer to the top.

While he had been to the second floor, it had certainly been a while. He had spent more than a few nights just trying to get the Entry Room door open, and that had been a complete disaster. He realized he hadn't told Hughes about that yet, but he didn't exactly want to admit his failures in front of Greed.

Roy turned back to his friend and raised an eyebrow. "Any idea on where we should go from here?" He really needed to get his hands on one of the maps that were going around. Perhaps that was the payment he should ask for in return for making weapons...

[felled-hero.livejournal.com]

"This was something different," Hughes tried to explain. "When we got up here, well, you can see it's an empty hallway. There was nothing, no sign that a person had been here at all." He shook his head. "I dunno what it was. But I'll be honest, it creeped me out."

As for where they should go...

"I guess it depends on what we're looking for. I was gonna try right last night, if that matters at all."

[heraldric.livejournal.com]

There were several more people near the top of the stairs, but again Leon recognized none of them. This hallway seemed at least different from the one downstairs. These rooms had to be more important than the bedrooms below.

He couldn't be sure if there were enemies among these people or not, so for now he refrained from yelling out the names of his friends again. Instead he turned back to Xelloss, figuring this man had to have been a servant at some point, the way he followed without question. Lucky for him.

[enigmaticmedium.livejournal.com]

"Then upstairs it is," Xelloss had said, following behind Leon this time. He observed the same as Leon--lots of people, but little in the way of useful signs for direction. If anything, it seemed busier up here. It was unlikely that all of these people had just woken up and wandered up here at whim as he and Leon had. Some of these people probably had been here a while, since their encounter with the two young men had revealed one had more information than the other. Perhaps some of these people were searching for something in particular, such as an escape route, rather than randomly meandering.

"Forward is as useful as back if we have no idea which direction is correct, isn't it?" Xelloss commented cheerfully when he noticed Leon looking his way.

[tartaros-avatar.livejournal.com]

[[from here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/149847.html)]]

Recluse carefully examined the halls before moving completely from the stairs. No monsters, but several prisoners. A good number of them looked like they had no idea where they were going. Recluse started down the hallway towards the outdoor area and then the kitchen. Things were going surprisingly well so far. All the more reason to stay alert and ensure nothing happened to change that fact.

[faithful-frost.livejournal.com]

Haku wasn't used to things going so well. It was a nice change of pace, he had to admit. Using his hearing, he took inventory of how many he could hear in the hallway, and how many he could see with the lights some carried.

A waste of energy really. He kept close to Recluse.

[prisonerofdeath.livejournal.com]

[[From here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/149847.html?thread=10698583#t10698583)]]

Fox paused once he was at the top of the stairs, forcing himself to breathe more slowly, to calm down. He stopped running and started walking, not in any particular hurry.

He moved towards a wall and ghosted silently along it, hiding from monsters and patients alike.

[prisonerofdeath.livejournal.com]

[[Going here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/161414.html)]]

[twelveapathy.livejournal.com]

[From here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/149847.html?thread=10723159#t10723159).]

XII took another look at her map and as luck would have it, there was a nice, large blank area to her left, past the labeled "Disciplinary Rooms". If she was right about those, then that was where she had been taken a couple of nights ago.

Good, she knew where they resided. Their days, along with Xigbar's, were numbered.

However, she could kill those responsible for scarring her another day. For now, filling out that portion of the map was a higher priority.

Keeping an eye out for any "monsters", Larxene made quickly walked through the hall and through the doors at the end.

[twelveapathy.livejournal.com]

[To here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/158885.html?view=10725285#t10725285).]

[no-side-effects.livejournal.com]

[[From here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/149847.html?thread=10521943#t10521943)]]

Wesker kept his eyes open as he reached the top of the stairs, looking around for any fights taking place that Claire or Relena might want to intervene in. While Relena seemed to be opposed to fighting, he doubted she would stand by while another was injured.

Thankfully there were no monsters to be found at the top of the stairs.

[claire-ity.livejournal.com]

So far, it all seemed pretty uneventful, but Claire still kept an eye out just in case. She wasn't too keen on the thought of tossing herself recklessly into another battle, and instead kept her own silent vow in watching over Relena.

[canieathim.livejournal.com]

From here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/149847.html?thread=10815575#t10815575)

Gluttony wandered up the stairs, flashing his flashlight around. There was Greed. Greed might know where Lust was, but Greed was fighting something. He was busy. He couldn't disturb Greed while he was fighting, he didn't like that. If he couldn't find Lust, he could always ask Greed later. That was okay. "Where's my Lust?" he called out once, just in case she was nearby. Maybe she would hear, or maybe Greed would hear and follow him and let him know that Lust was okay, and Envy was a mean liar and didn't know anything about Lust being dead.

[canieathim.livejournal.com]

Moving here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/157292.html?thread=10814572#t10817388)

[0bnoxious.livejournal.com]

[From here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/149847.html?thread=10868823)]

As he reached the top of the stairs, Albel took a moment to scan his surroundings of anything that would go and waste their time. The halls seem to be devoid of such scum. Good.

He waited for the maggot with him to catch up as he wondered which direction to take. He had only visited the morgue so far - which was left - but he had no idea where the other directions leaded to.

[face-of-chaos.livejournal.com]

Making his way up to the top of the stairs, Yuber’s gaze slowly paned the hallway in front of them before his attention finally found itself on Albel. This was his first time entering the upper floors, and considering the lack of useful tools he’d come across the floor before them, the knight was hoping that there would be something of far more interest somewhere here.

“Any suggestions of which direction we should go?” A hand slipped down to elegantly place itself on the side of Yuber’s hip as he regarded his companion. “Or should I start pointing in random directions and see where it takes us?”

[moon-brained.livejournal.com]

[From here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/149847.html?view=10882391#t10882391).]

At the top of the stairs Usagi stopped and caught her breath. The path ahead of them was split.

"Which way now?"

[entropy-effect.livejournal.com]

To say the least, Naoya wasn't too comfortable with Hokuto's suggestion of "taking the lead". He was always usually the one following his brother, not the other way around. Yet he understood what the young lady was trying to do, even if the action confused him. Accept him? Why? She didn't even know him!

Inwardly sighing with relief as Usagi took the lead, the young man quickly ran to catch up with the girl. Once caught up, the young man glanced down at his map.

"We go right and continue going straight for some time. After a while we should see a hallway that branches off to our left."

[degozaruyo.livejournal.com]

[from here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/149847.html?thread=10960215#t10979927).]

As soon as Kenshin reached the top of the stairs, he remembered that the hallway branched off into two directions. Last night, they had gone down the hallway to the right. What lay straight ahead?

Well, there was only one way to find out...but he'd have to make sure that it was all right with his young charge, first.

"Right or straight, Yuffie-dono?"

[materianinja.livejournal.com]

Yuffie followed quietly as she could. There were others wandering about, sounds of a fight even, but she had absolutely no interest in joining. Whoever it was could either handle it themselves or run, right? Right.

"Um, I think I've been down to the right. There's not much over there 'cept a long dark hallway like this one way at the other end of the building." And why investigate that creepy hallway when they had one right here?

[rabbitprince314.livejournal.com]

[from here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/149847.html?thread=10974039#t10974039)]

The stairs lead to a hallway which opened to both directions and seemed to branch into smaller ones. Kougaiji peered into darkness silently, then moved to one random direction, not really knowing where the hell he was going.

[i-slay-giants.livejournal.com]

Jack followed Kougaiji with his flashlight (aimed at his feet this time) for a moment before saying anything. "Got a plan there, then?"

He pulled his map from his pocket and looked it over again. "There are a ton of rooms on this floor too. Fan-fucking-tastic. Where to start?"

[offduty.livejournal.com]

[from here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/149847.html?thread=10981975#t10981975).]

The stairways were dark, but with the light floating at his back, it was enough to keep him from tripping over anything.

Reno edged out into the second floor, peering down both hallways. If he recalled correctly, their last explorations over to the right led to a bunch of storage rooms, but nothing for dead bodies.

"Take it's up ahead?"