damned_institute | NIghtshift 26: 2nd Floor Hallway near Railed Area

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NIghtshift 26: 2nd Floor Hallway near Railed Area

[From here.]

It was around that time when Jade's pace slowed considerably, almost to that of a snail's. Even though it involved a woman of some sort, he was certain that he'd have more than enough time to dwell between the halls while still making it back before his Majesty reached his own destination. He walked the halls with more ease than he held moments before, swinging his fontech back and forth as he wandered along.

The rail caught his attention almost instantly, and Jade found himself looking over the edge in practically no time. Even at this height he was able to make out the shapes of chairs and couches that lined the Sun Room's floor. This area seemed to awaken some nostalgia inside him, reminding him of the very bridge that overlooked the first floor of the Cathedral back in Daath. If he remembered correctly, it was where Luke came to him after seeking whatever moral support he could squeeze out of his allies. Life was more hectic back then, and they were facing dilemmas that no person could keep to their own.

Jade chuckled at those memories, letting himself relax in the darkness.

[To here.]

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"Echoing..." the woman whispered, and then she was upon them.

More than one, more than one, when had she encountered more than a single wanderer? Her face was impassive, but she felt a twist of rage inside, at their voices. She couldn't hear what they said, but she wanted them to shut up, all the same. Men she hated; women, she hated even more.

She was far taller then the boy in front; she reached out to lay one hand on his shoulder, her pain spreading out through her fingertips. But her main focus was on the younger girl behind him; her hand clamped down like iron to push him aside, enough to expose the girl.

A smile curled the ghost's lips up. She'd stop the girl before she sang the song, teach her not to play with her hammer and stakes. Her hand shot forward and fastened around the girl's throat, and she lifted up.

[Reika's a woman! She likes bargains! Two for one sounds good to her! :D Please refer to this post (http://carved-deeper.livejournal.com/947.html). Anyone she touches starts getting the tattoo. <3]

Rhode's taunts weren't helping. He'd no doubt she was telling the truth, but even if it was a ghost, what could it possibly do? She didn't have any weapons and she was see-through. She'd probably just pass right through them!

But she moved again, more quickly this time, and she was suddenly so close. Allen couldn't think, he couldn't move. He started backward, but her hand was on his shoulder before he got more than a few inches. It shoved him roughly aside, with a strength he couldn't imagine. He lost his balance, landing on his side as he fell. Then there was the pain.

Allen cried out as the phantom pain began to spread. It didn't burn, but God, did it hurt. He clenched his teeth, a second scream dying in his throat as he curled up on the floor.

Worse than the pain though, were the emotions running through him, almost pulsing in time to his own frightened heartbeat. Rage, hers, but he could feel it. Sorrow, guilt, despair... He shut his eyes as though that might make it go away, but it only made the memories that surfaced all the more real.

"Mana Walker. Shall I resurrect him for you?" The Earl's lies were sweet to a child. Bring back what he'd lost. Bring back the only one who'd cared about the boy who had been abandoned.

It was Allen who'd said his name. Allen's voice that brought Mana back into that horrible, cold metal skeleton with fangs for teeth and knives for hands.

"All.. en."

But then his voice pierced the night air in a terrible scream. Full of a rage he'd never heard Mana use while living.

"How dare you! How dare you turn me into an Akuma!"

It was his fault. His fault. He'd wished for it. When Mana's knife-like hand slashed at his face, he didn't even try to dodge it.

"How could you do this?! I curse you! I curse you Allen Walker!"

He would've been content to die for his sin, his selfish wish. But it was then that his Innocence first made manifest. It was then that his claw-like hand moved all on its own, crushing the metal body of the only man he had called Father.

Allen screamed again, this time at the vivid memory that haunted him. Even as he'd lay bleeding in the cemetary, he'd not blamed Mana. Even if he'd died there, Mana would've lived. Mana would've been the better choice. Mana...

He scrunched his eyes shut against the hot tears that made their way down his cheeks, despite his efforts to stop them. He'd done nothing with this cursed life he was left. He was broken, defeated, useless. He couldn't save anyone.

"Allen!" Rhode called, her eyes following him as he was cast aside. His flight almost took her to the wall as well - her hand had been holding tight to his shirt - only the force of the blow ripped the shirt from her grasp.

When he started screaming, the laughter didn't come to her. The delight was there, strong as ever, but more overpowering was the rage that had swept over her. Allen Walker was hers! Causing him pain was a job only she was entitled to! And yet this woman... this non-Noah ghost... throwing him aside like some worthless rag... Rhode wouldn't stand for her toys being abused by anyone but her!

Her head snapped back to the ghost woman, the young Noah now ready to scold this thing for playing with what wasn't hers. The scolding never occurred. Instead, Rhode felt a heaviness encircling her throat, cutting off her words along with her breath. She was raised up, her feet leaving the floor, with the strong, but see-through hand becoming the only support to her small, lifted body.

The tattoo snaked its way around the dark skin at her neck, but went unnoticed by the small Noah. Pain was much easier to focus on. Fresh sorrow and hatred and loathing, it was a pain that made Rhode's senses tingle more with excitement than anything else. Yes, this was Rhode's "brand" of pain, and her "method" of torture as well. Odd that she would be on the receiving end of such a pleasure. The experience was definitely unique. And yet... these were not her abilities. No. The ghost woman was pulling this. Letting Rhode not only see but feel her deepest torments. How generous of her. The full powered Rhode would have found this out on her own, but being shown while suppressed was kind indeed.

The delight of the pain now clashed with her burning anger. This time Rhode was upset at herself. Even if she could somehow get a hold of her abilities once again, this ghost woman wouldn't be possible to break. She was already shattered and angry at the world. Shattered as Rhode would have shattered Allen's friends when they got to the top of the Ark. This was one woman she would never be able to laugh at for breaking. Not that she could have with the transparent hand clutching her throat.

"Let... go...!" Rhode hissed as best she could manage, moving her hands up to try and force the ghostly hand away.

For being a whiny ghost, it sure seemed powerful. Quickly gaining the upper hand, being able to push him aside like that and lifting up Rhode with so much ease… Not bad.

Now then, how would they deal with this little obstacle? Two of them had already been incapacitated and punching and kicking a ghost would be a waste of effort. Her electricity came to mind, but she had to conserve those. Besides, with Allen there, she couldn’t do anything that would ruin Allen’s image of sweet, helpless Emily. Speaking of which…

“Allen!” she said, kneeling down next to him. It was obvious that he was in pain, but how could he have gotten this injured from being thrown like that? “What is it? What did she do to you?”

Larxene was genuinely curious about it, mainly so she could avoid whatever happened to him.

_{[coming from over here]}

Had Aidou been more cautious, had he been in less of a hurry to get to his original destination, he might have thought twice about stepping into Reika's territory once he heard the screaming. As it was, he'd just seen a talking monster light itself on fire because of its own stupidity, and had a bleeding, paralyzed girl in his arms that smelled delicious and why wasn't he eating her -

He wasn't feeling terribly patient, and had no desire to go back downstairs, only to come back up through the fourth stairwell.

Mistake.

Taking one glance at the ensuing mess, he tightened his hold. And then bolted.

How could this guy see? They were running around in the pitch black, thanks to the fact that she had dropped her flashlight. Good job, Bella, she scolded herself, frowning. Now how are you going to get around at night?

Her eyes drifted up towards the boy’s face once again as wonder filled her mind. Who was he? Of course, she was very grateful for him to have saved her. And yet, because she didn’t know his name, she couldn’t even thank him properly! Making a note to ask him later, Bella opened her mouth and turned her gaze back to the darkness, allowing herself to fall closer to his chest. “Thank you for saving me.” With her voice a low whisper, she opened her mouth to speak again, but instantly slapped it shut when she heard the screaming. Eyes widening, she took in a shaky breath, heart quickening almost instantly. Oh god, what was going to happen now? It was bad enough she couldn’t move, but the fact that she was in the dark with some unknown boy and that someone was screaming? Not a good thing at all.

Perhaps it was the movement that caught her attention, or the boy's fear, or even his beauty; perhaps she had simply lost interest in Rhode already. The ghost dropped the girl unceremoniously on the ground and turned at Aidou's approach. She lurched forward in a strange, slow-motion run, hand outstretched to touch him.

He could hardly hear anything around him. The memories felt like they were screaming inside his mind. Guilt. Pain. Your fault. Your fault. Your fault.

Allen rubbed at his eyes, trying to clear them of the unexpected tears. He already knew it was his fault, his blame, his sin. It just rarely hit him with such clarity as it did now.

There were voices though. He should be paying attention! More people were going to get hurt and he'd have no one to blame for it but himself! Allen struggled to his feet, visibly shaking. He only shook his head at Emily's questions.

"We... we have to get out of here, now!" even his voice sounded shaky. What was wrong with him? Was he really this weak?

Rhode had fallen to the floor. Should they take her? Leave her? He could barely walk on his own, let alone carry her. All the same... he couldn't just let her alone. "I'll be fine M-miss Emily, but Rhode..." He started toward the girl anyway, heedless of where the ghost still was and the pain that still pulsed through his shoulder in time with his heart. "We have to go... we have to find somewhere safe..."

She was almost to the point of being unable to breathe when the ghost woman dropped her like a brick. Rhode's body fell like a doll, no semblance of balance or coordination to speak of, and remained nearly unmoving on the floor. The pain she felt was nothing, but it was as though just that very pain had taken the energy right out of her to the point where she didn't care to even move. Not to sit up or stand or do anything but hold her sore throat as she coughed. Her breath had been taken right along with her energy.

She still couldn't see the tattoo that had formed on her, but knew that something was wrong. Her senses had gone blank to everything but the ghost woman's pain. And to something else as well - a fear. A small but very real fear that Rhode had never felt before.

This was her real body, this stupid, weak, and undeniably human shell she had to put up with was her. The pain she felt was proof enough of that fact. And this body... she couldn't hide. Not from anyone. So it was her, the real Rhode Camelot, that had nearly been strangled to death by an emotionally shattered ghost!

It shook her knowing that she had been so very close to death, to a real death. Noah weren't supposed to think about that kind of human mortality since it wasn't a real issue for them, but here... in this place... it was far too real to ignore. She felt even more useless now than she had upon first realizing her forced humanity, and vulnerable, and to a large degree scared.

Allen’s condition seemed to get worse as time passed. And yet, he was such a resilient toy that he was able to stand up. Questions could come later. Right now, it would be in her best interest to put some distance between herself and the ghost. Hopefully, the new visitors would provide enough of a distraction for them to do that.

They would have to do something about Rhode though, typical.

Larxene grabbed the child by the arm and tried to help her get up. If not, then she would just drag her useless body as they ran.

“Come on.” She said, trying her best to sound concerned and worried. “Please get up. We can’t stay here!”

She was slow, but the area wasn't that large to begin with. She came at him with such single-mindedness that it was impossible to properly avoid - Aidou couldn't really prevent his response; he turned his torso, angling the human away from Reika's reaching hand and making the curve of his shoulder the point of connection. Either he had left himself open by slowing down to dodge sharply or change direction, or he had protected himself by turning towards the ghost, letting her grab for the girl Bella instead. And he just couldn't do that.

He couldn't ever hide behind a little human girl, even to spare himself as the superior creature, even if humans meant little to him. She had already pushed him aside once, and looked what had happened.

Reika's fingers touched his skin as he sprinted past her, and with it came Reika's intent. A cry welled in his throat and lodged there, momentarily waylaid by the instinctual drumbeat in his head. When you fall, don't do it here, don't do it here.

_{[about to have a breakdown over here]}

She tried to pursue, but the boy was too fast, gone from her grasp in an instant. She let her hand drop down to her side, then turned back to those she had been tormenting previously. With no other distractions around, they had her undivided attention.

She walked back toward them.

And now, she was smiling.

At least the others that came had taken his advice and made a run for it. Unfortunately, it left them to deal with the ghost. Or whatever it was. He could barely walk, his legs still felt like gelatin beneath him. But Emily had a hold of Rhode and they could at least move. Allen couldn't do much, but he might be able to delay the spirit.

"Go, hurry!" he shouted over his shoulder. There were some doors further down the hall. If nothing else, maybe they'd be able to stop and catch their breath. "Find somewhere to hide, I'll..." he really didn't know what he thought he could do to stop her, but he had to try. "I'll be right behind you!"

Guilt still stabbed at him as sharp as any knife. Memories that he'd tried to forget were clear as day. "S... Stay away," he said as firmly as he could. "I don't want to hurt you." Could he force an invocation? It was possible... he didn't know how much good it would do on a soul that wasn't confined to an Akuma.

Someone caught one of Rhode's arms and forced a hand away from her throat. In the long run, probably a helpful motion. Holding the bruised area was only adding to the pain that still lingered. Her other hand only remained a moment longer, having to fall to the floor for support once her seized arm was pulled upward. Tilting her head up, she found that it was Emily trying to get her to her feet, shouting about needing to leave.

Allen was shouting too. He wasn't screaming anymore, but that pain from earlier still echoed in his words. The ghost woman had done the same thing to him then, as it had with her, only Allen Walker couldn't take the pain without screaming. He wanted them to leave too.

Up, get up! She started shouting herself, willing for this real body to move. There was no reason to be scared. She shouldn't be scared. She wouldn't die; she was a Noah. They didn't die. They couldn't! Her body shouldn't be shaking like this because she wasn't scared!!

Shakily and with Emily's help, Rhode got up to her feet. She had to lean against the older woman to keep from going down once again, though unwilling in the action. Her Noah pride was taking a shot for this no matter what happened anymore. "... All... en...?" It hurt to breathe, so the pain from speaking stabbed twofold at her throbbing neck. But she had to. Allen was telling them to leave like he'd be staying behind. Jealousy, or pain, or anger, or whatever emotion held her senses the most right then kept Rhode from wanting to leave. She didn't want to leave Allen behind.

Larxene watched as the dark-skinned child struggled just to stay on her feet. Relying on her, needing her... Though she obviously didn't show it, the Nobody was really enjoying seeing Rhode in such a pitiful state.

It seemed that Allen had taken it up himself to keep the ghost busy and give them the time they needed to get to safety. She would definitely remember such a noble act, at least for a good second. Well, maybe less.

Now then…

“Please be safe, Allen” she then grabbed Rhode by the arm and ran off, not really caring where they'd end up in, or if the little one was even able to keep up.

[Headed here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/198357.html).]

The woman didn't seem to notice Rhode or Larxene fleeing. She advanced on Allen, the smile still curling up her lips. One moment she was a safe distance away; the next she was in front of him, her hands wrapping around his throat, lifting him up.

"Echoing..." she whispered. "My skin... my skin..."

He watched them leave, some small bit of relief filling him. He backed slowly away from the apparition. There was still space between them, as long as he was careful, then...

And before he could blink she was standing right in front of him. Her ghostly hand snaking out to catch hold of his neck and lifting him up with no ordinary human strength. How?! That same pain pulsed through him again, growing, spreading, worse than before if that was truly possible. He tried to cry out, but the scream died in his throat, came out as only a garbled choking mess.

His feet kicked uselessly beneath him and his hands were shaking, but he tried to pry loose the grip around his neck. All the while those awful visions danced through his mind, weakening his resolve.

[From here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/188297.html?thread=13246601#t13246601).]

Pretty loud noises probably from fighting going on coming from around here, yeah, but Ravi hadn't exactly been expecting what he saw when he made his way further down the hallway to get past the area.

That familiar red glow was hard to miss - and sure enough, he could make out its source when he pointed his flashlight into that direction.

Ravi stared at the scene for a second. That was Allen being held up in the air, right? It looked like a woman was holding him by his neck. Something didn't look right about her, but now wasn't really the time to stop and think about that.

"Allen?!" Ravi broke into a run and quickly moved closer. "Hey, what're you doing?" He reached for the woman, planning to give Allen a hand trying to free himself - whoever the vicious attacker was, she couldn't be that strong, right?

But before he could actually touch her, Ravi froze for a moment, realizing why something looked funny about the woman. Not just the tattoos on her skin, but was she sort of see-through...?

crying over her, their tears and sorrows and pains stinging with blood and indigo as they carved them into her skin, and she took them, took them, to save their pain so that no one had to feel like she did, never again, but his blood was on the floor

She turned her head slowly to look at the newcomer; another person that did not understand pain, another like those whose sorrows she had taken on. She dropped Allen with no ceremony, moving toward Ravi with her hand outstretched. "The needles," she whispered. "Etching... deeper..."

Allen fell almost lifelessly to the floor, like a marionette who's strings had been cut. He moved, but barely. It hurt. Everything hurt. The feeling of air passing through his lungs where there had been none before was the only thing that told him he was still alive. Why did it have to hurt so much? Mana...

Mana wasn't the only one though... He hadn't been able to save Suman. He'd only been able to watch as Tyki Mick tore him to shreds with the those awful Tease. Weak. If he wasn't so terribly weak, maybe he could have...

There'd been a voice, a familiar, one, and somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew there was something he should be doing. But breathing seemed most important. He opened his eyes at last, searching and begging his eyesight not to blur.

Ravi. It took an effort just to raise his head enough to see properly, but there was no mistake. He tried to push himself up from the ground, slipping a couple of times. It was as though his strength had simply left him. "Run!" he yelled hoarsely to Ravi. "Run, get out of here!"

Seeing Allen drop to the floor, Ravi quickly moved to head to his side, but that woman had turned around to look at him now - in fact, she was moving towards him.

Ravi wasn't too keen on standing there and letting her grab him by the neck next, so he hurriedly ducked and knelt down in front of Allen instead, reaching out to grasp Allen's arms. "Hey... You okay, Allen?" He threw a glance back at the woman before turning to look at Allen again. "Think you can get up and run?"

It looked like Allen was having trouble standing up - there was no way Ravi was planning to run off and leave him there like that. Allen didn't think he'd just do that, right?

happens so fast, everything, in the blink of an eye it all falls

The man ducked her grasp; she turned to follow him, hand still outstretched to touch.

She whispered, "Sleep."

She was going to get him too, Allen realized. She would get Ravi too and it'd be his fault. If he hadn't been so stupid...

He shook his head and struggled to get up. Ravi had to run or he'd be next. "She's... she's fast," he managed. Ravi's hand was hot, or maybe his skin was just very cold. If he didn't move, then... "You can't let her touch you!" his voice was shaking, but he couldn't steady it. His eyes were wide and frightened, glancing from Ravi to find the ghost. She was coming.

"You... you have to run!" He tried again to push himself up, getting to one knee with some effort. His neck hurt. His shoulder. The tattoo was spreading. The holly-and-snake design was visible around his neck and up part of his face and it hurt. Not like a burning, but a deep and lingering ache. He was only going to slow Ravi down, he couldn't ask that of him. He couldn't...

"I'm not just gonna sit there and let her touch me," Ravi replied, "but I'm not gonna leave you here, either, Allen." Allen looked like he was in pretty bad shape - now Ravi could see that it looked like those tattoos were appearing on Allen's skin, too.

What the hell was that woman? Ravi glanced back over his shoulder, realizing that she was reaching for them again. So she could spread that tattoo or whatever it was, just by touching somebody? And from the looks of it, that had to be a bad thing.

Well, if she was fast... Hastily, Ravi tried to hook his arms under Allen's to haul the other boy to his feet when Allen didn't seem to be getting much further with his attempts to get up from the floor.

NIghtshift 26: 2nd Floor Hallway near Railed Area

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