damned_institute | Day 27: Breakfast

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Day 27: Breakfast

Day came too soon.

Sora hadn't been able to find Rena, had instead been forced to crumple onto the grass of the recreational field and bleed all over himself, and hadn't even accomplished what he'd been sent out to do. What he'd been entrusted to do. He didn't know how he was going to be able to face Renji and the others, but he also knew he wasn't going to hide from them, either. That would just be low, after all, and he was ready to face up to the consequences.

He didn't try to make excuses for himself. Even though there had been a Special Counseling patient, they had managed to take her down by sheer numbers. The fact that he hadn't seen any sign of Rena was what had him the most worried. He hoped he could find her today.

The boy laid in his bed for a good while that morning before his nurse finally came in to collect him. She clucked over the bandages wrapped tightly around his chest and leg, and asked him if he was okay to walk.

Once Sora assured her he was fine (he didn't really want to use crutches, as that would just attract attention to himself, and he didn't need others worrying over him), they made their way to the cafeteria. Sora yawned and winced against the bright light of morning - it seemed even earlier than usual, and he realized why when they entered the cafeteria and found it empty.

The boy shuffled over to grab a chocolate chip pancake, a bowl of cereal, and a glass of milk (good for the bones, or so his mom had always told him) before settling at a table. He kept an eye on the door, hoping he would see Rena walking in soon.

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Heero whipped around in his chair upon recognizing the faces of the newcomers. What was Relena doing here, of all places? Quatre he could accept, because they'd been imprisoned together last he knew, but as for the Peacecraft heir..

Kikyo's words barely registered then, the talk of strange creatures another oddity he wasn't quite prepared to deal with at the moment.

"Relena! Why..?"

He nodded numbly to their requests of joining them, and only then what Quatre had said struck him as odd: "Vice Foreign.. Minister?" He pronounced the unfamiliar title hesitantly, wondering if perhaps they were referring to her late father.

"How many times do I have to tell you that you don't have to be so formal here, Quatre?" Relena sat down once Heero nodded, leaving the seat across from her open for her blond companion.

She could certainly understand Heero's confusion at her presence, but the way he said her title made her think that he was more from Duo's time than Quatre's or her own. "My position in the government, but it doesn't mean much here."

Looking at the other man with Heero, she smiled politely. "I believe I've seen you around this place, but we hadn't spoken yet. My name is Relena."

"Very well then, Miss Relena," he smiled and looked at Heero as he sat down. His eyes were a little sad as he looked over Heero, looking for the signs that he two was 'from' a year ago. He did look younger but it wasn't the time to ask what was the last thing he remembered.

He looked to the stranger that had been sitting with Heero. "And my name is Quatre," he offered, preferring not to give his full name. "I'm sorry that we've intruded onto your conversation." He didn't mean to be so rude, but if Heero was at Landel's then it was important that he know who else was with him.

"It is quite alright, I am sure," Kikyo answered in all politeness, glancing briefly at Heero's reaction to the new arrivals. He certainly knew one of them, at least.

He continued, introducing himself as well- "My name is Kikyo. I was just making acquaintance with Heero-kun here. But it seems you have had the pleasure of his society already."

The slight smile upon his lips hinted back at Heero's initial comments to Kikyo, earlier in their conversation.

Heero couldn't tell if he was relieved he'd found people he knew, or confused by the fact that they seemed to know each other better than what he remembered -he felt as though he was only seeing part of the picture here, but he didn't really know how to start putting the pieces together.

One thing was for certain though: he had to keep it together, otherwise they stood no chance of making it out of there. Addressing the both of them, he asked: "How long have you been here?", trying to sketch a rough timeline of events in his head.

Turning towards Kikyo, he gave a small, bitter smile: "Turns out you were right about unexpected encounters..."

Relena mirrored Kikyo's polite smile then turned back to Heero. "It seems this whole place is full of unexpected encounters," she pointed out, remembering how she felt on seeing Quatre and Duo only the day before.

As for Heero's question.... "I arrived three days ago. I've explored the building with some other people, but I haven't found much." She had to remind herself that she had done quite a bit, considering she lacked any of the pilot's training, but it still didn't feel like enough.

Quatre nodded at the name that Kikyo offered, smiling politely as well though there was hint of sadness to it. He wondered what this man's story was and how he had ended up in this... prison.

"I came here yesterday," Quatre offered Heero as Relena stopped updating him on her situation. He paused for a moment, deciding what was best to bring up. "Duo arrived a little before I did." He looked pointedly at Heero, filling him in on the details of who was here and who wasn't. He didn't mention Trowa or Wufei, and that should have been enough to let Wing's pilot know that if they were here then that meant that Quatre hadn't seen them. He wished he could speak to Heero a little more about when he thought that he was from.

He looked to Kikyo, smiling again and not wanting to completely exclude him from the conversation. "We are all old friends," he said, though that didn't really cover half of their relationships. "Do you mind if I ask how long you have been here?"

As these prior acquaintances caught up on their own business, Kikyo sat quietly, sipping from his water glass. His calm eyes wandered briefly around the cafeteria, but they didn't spot the redhead he would recognize anywhere. Did people disappear from here as suddenly as they seemed to appear? This thought disturbed him, though it didn't show much in his features, except for a slight furrow in his brow.

He turned when he was addressed once more, this time setting his gaze upon the blonde youth who looked about Heero's age.

"No indeed," he replied, smiling. "I have been here for a few days. Not much longer than yourself."

A slight look of surprise, followed by a more obvious one of annoyance crossed Heero's features as he took in the news.

"Duo's here too?", he growled, and muttered something under his breath about certain braided pilots who just couldn't seem to keep out of trouble.

Seeing Quatre was engaged in conversation with Kikyo, he focused his gaze on Relena: "Do you know why you've been brought here then?", he asked, wondering if Relena had made such a public enemy of herself that OZ had felt the need to remove her from sight.. but that hardly seemed like their style, which confused him to no end.

"To be fair, Duo hasn't been trouble here," Relena offered, but she decided not to mention him hitting on her roommate.

When Heero brought up why she was here, she wasn't entirely sure what to tell him. Especially since she didn't know why herself. "Well...." She poked at her food, trying to buy some time. "At first, I really thought it was a prank or a training exercise for you and the other pilots. You five pilots had just saved my life again, so I didn't think it was the latter.

"But it's not a prank either." Relena hadn't told this to Quatre or Duo yet, but she figured Heero would need more proof. "I don't know how, but my 'doctor' had satellite access, and she showed me the L1 point." She looked directly at Heero before continuing. "Nothing was there."

Quatre took in Kikyo's words with a slight nod, considering them carefully. "Have you been able to accomplish much during the night?" he asked out of more than just curiosity. If he and Kikyo could open up communication about what they had tried and what had failed in this place then they could form a useful alliance. Unfortunately not much had been accomplished between Quatre, Relena and Duo the night before, but it wouldn't always be that way. The more people that worked together, the greater the chance they would find a way to escape. Quatre had to find out what was happening on the colonies.

He heard Heero's and Relena's conversations as well, and whatever Kikyo was going to say to answer him was quickly driven out of his mind as he heard Relena's words.

"What?!" he asked, turning his head quickly to look at her. The words he had overheard had shocked him, but he knew better than to talk loudly, his voice was barely more than a whisper. "It wasn't there?" His voice was soft and quiet but urgent. He remembered the strange girl's words when he had spoken to her in the Game Room. Can you hear the stars screaming? Some of them are all made of metal, and some of them are exploding. Or maybe someone's blowing them up. Blowing up the stars. After what she had said following those incredible statements, Quatre had thought the words had different more metaphorical meaning, but if an entire colony was missing...

It wasn't unheard of... colonies being destroyed.

After all, Quatre thought guiltily, he himself had committed such a crime.

"You don't actually believe this could be another reality, do you Miss Relena?" he asked quickly, calming himself down to his completely diplomatic demeanor and remembering all the wild things that had been posted on the board and that had come out of Duo's mouth. His voice was more rational now, he looked at her with a little bit of pleading in his eyes. He wanted her to think rationally, but if she supported these radical ideas, then perhaps he should too. "And time travel? You think those things are possible?" Now, with the thought of proof that a colony had disappeared he wanted, almost, to believe that they were true. "There are any number other explanations for what's happening here. Perhaps the image was faked, perhaps she only pretended to show you the coordinates you wanted to see while her computer was rigged to show you purely empty space. The Winner family has been at the forefront of developmental technology and resources since the colonies were founded, I've never seen any research or heard of any discovery that could possibly even hint to those things being possible."

Quatre may have chosen to disinherit himself to join the war, but with the war over he had been able to rejoin his family, there was just a hint of pride in his voice. He was, after all, very glad to be his father's son, despite everything that had happened between them before the man had died.

"...." Kikyo arched an eyebrow and sat back in silence as Quatre rambled on and on, his own brief conversation with him forgotten. Though none of what he said made much sense to him, Kikyo listened with slight curiosity nevertheless. Another reality? He would not have believed it possible before he saw his own ghost from the past. Though it seemed that this particular one was a ghost from his future. Or more likely, he had come to haunt Ran's footsteps.

It only made sense, for in everything he did, it all tied back to that one person in his life...

His fingertips slid across his cheek as he turned his gaze to the door.

Heero's eyes darted back and forth between Relena and Quatre as he absorbed the new information with no small amount of shock, his hands gripping the sides of the tables tightly, knuckles turning white with the strain.

L1.. gone? Time travel? Alternate realities? As crazy as that sounded, he almost found himself wanting to believe in it, but the truth was, he didn't know who or what to believe anymore.

"..what? How can you be so sure?"

Outrage was easy to summon, a burning feeling throbbing in his veins as he pushed his chair back loud enough for it to slam on the floor. He couldn't let himself believe any of this, not until he had proof, not until he could see with his own two eyes that what he'd been fighting for all this time was just.. gone.

A nurse came over, alerted by the commotion, and with a little pinched smile reminded him that it would do him no good to get agitated like this, and that he could make new friends where they were going next. Still dumbfounded by the events, Heero didn't put up much resistance as she led him towards the arts and crafts room.

[ooc: he's probably going to run into Duo next. Oh my >D hope that's okay with you guys!]

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Day 27: Breakfast

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