damned_institute | Day 30: Cafeteria, Breakfast

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Day 30: Cafeteria, Breakfast

Hitsugaya woke with a start.

His entire body ached, but the pain was nowhere near as bad as it had been the night before. His injuries had been tended two with clean gauze and bandages, and he found every movement wasn't agony. He wasn't in the best of shape, but thanks to the miracle of landel's strange time distortion, he had mostly recovered from the vile poison without having to waste anyone else's talents.

And in his hand, still...there was the key.

He dressed quickly, sliding the key onto the key ring from his desk drawer and stuck it into his pocket. Whether the key stood to gain them anything or not, it stood as a vital reminder that they could succeed in this place. There was hope, as insignificant as it often seemed. They could beat this place.

That small shred of hope made getting up worth it.

The nurse who escorted him to breakfast was cheerful, and commented idly about how wonderful it was to see young Tommy Winters up and about again after his unfortunate run-in with a bad case of food poisoning. He smirked slightly, knowing that any lies the institute forced into their heads were only that: lies. He wouldn't buy it for a second. And on top of that, the concept of muffins sounded almost appetizing. While he still preferred his authentic Japanese cuisine, the food here was slowly becoming more and more bearable. He would have preferred a warm bowl of sweet nattou over rice over the mufffins, but they would do. The plain yogurt and fruit, on the other hand, was excellent. He piled his plate high with fruit as usual, and got several small bowls of yogurt as well.

Finding the most convenient table to the end of the food line, he took a seat and scanned for the new arrivals. New arrivals meant people who would be lost and confused. Renji did a good job of making a bulliten post last time...he should recommend abarai-fukutaicho do the same again this time.

[Waiting for Angel]

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Hitsugaya nodded slightly. "Martin Landel," he said. "That was his voice talking to us over the speakers this morning. He makes rare appearances, but never at a time where we can make a strike against him." He was about to mention that Abarai Renji knew his spirit thread and could track him, but he thought better of it. There was no evidence that Landel used spies among the patients, but it was entirely possible that he would try a new approach here.

Still, he would've expected a friendlier face to go with an impostor like that.

"I can tell you he's human...or at least has a human soul," Hitsugaya expressed. "There's something off about him, but we haven't been able to place it. He has some kind of relationship with the man on the radio...possibly a business relationship gone sour. They're both arrogant self-serving assholes who seem to like watching us run through the institute at night as if it were a blood sport."

What Hitsugaya was saying at first didn't add much to what he had already learned last night, although the confirmation of a human soul was...interesting, to say the least. Assuming Hitsugaya was correct. Angel would have to meet the doctor himself to find out.

It wasn't until the other said something about "the man on the radio" that he glanced up.

So that was the reason for the radio he'd found. It hadn't been working because no one had been communicating at the time.

He frowned. "Is that one of the theories going around? We're here for blood sport?"

"There are a lot of theories," Hitsugaya answered quickly devouring the stacked high plate of watermelon between pauses. "But no one has any real idea. It wouldn't just be blood sport, because if it was they wouldn't be treating this place like a mental institution during the day. And some people disappear from here without dying...and some come back with no memory of their previous time here." He thought back to Ichigo briefly. The kid had shown up before he arrived and vanished, then made another appearance later with no memories from before. It was downright unsettling.

"The problem with coming up with a theory is that nothing seems to fit exactly right. At first I suspected it was someone from my universe who was behind all of this, but it's become clear that whoever is behind this is somehow above our individual universes. I don't know how much she told you, but everyone here seems to come from entirely different realities. Simple concepts like life and death, and even spiritual energies apparently work differently. Some concepts remain the same, but there's no clear rhyme nor reason to it."

He shook his head slightly. "Even time runs differently here. They seem able to pull individuals out of their timelines. For my people, one of my vice captains comes from significantly earlier in the past than I do...yet I saw him in Soul Society days after what he remembers. Some people are from the distant future - at least from my perspective - others are from the distant past. It's damn frustrating, if you ask me."

He finished off his plate of watermelon, then set to devouring the muffin.

"In any case, don't be surprised if things exist here that you've never heard of before. There are magicians, soldiers, vampires, super-heroes, and even a few 'normal' people wandering around. There doesn't seem to be a common trend to who's taken, either. It's not the best of the best, and it's not the worst. I'm one of the 13 most powerful warriors where I come from, but the most powerful isn't here." He didn't like exaggerating his prowess, considering there were others in the world who were a dangerous threat and likely on equal power to the gotei 13, but complicating the issue with the dynamics of Soul Society, Hollows, and everything else was unnecessary, when this proved his point just fine.

Angel watched Hitsugaya eat, noting, even as he turned the information over in his mind, the surprising speed at which the watermelon disappeared. If nothing else, they seemed to be providing the basic necessities here. No rhyme or reason—he was starting to get that.

But if Hitsugaya had run into people he knew, then the others might be here, as well. He needed to find them.

"I know of some beings who seem to be unconfined to a single dimension, able to alter reality, but why they'd do it now, it's—" He stopped. "Did you say there're vampires around here? As in, right here in the cafeteria now?"

Because that would just be strange, considering things were relatively...non-violent at the moment. Unless whoever had pulled them here had managed to even restrain the vampires. Which also wasn't too comforting of a fact.

Hitsugaya raised an eyebrow. "Had a run in with vampires in your world, then?" he asked. "They're myths in my world...possibly stemmed from some things that are far worse. Someone was attacked by a supposed vampire about a week ago, and from the looks of it it seemed to be a patient here. That said, we didn't have any luck finding out anything more about it, and the issue's mostly died down. While I'd like to look into it more, my organization has more pressing issues, like finding a way for us all to get out of here."

He paused thoughtfully. "You just arrived. Do you have anyone to travel with at night?" he asked. "No matter how skilled you were back home, it isn't safe for anyone to travel alone at night."

Angel paused. "You could say that. I'm surprised there's only been one victim so far."

And if the vampires weren't active despite being surrounded by this many humans, then there was something seriously wrong. It left him feeling, for the first time in a while, a little unsettled about his actual physical capabilities. Hitsugaya was the second person to mention that strengths were limited here.

"No," he replied before adding quieter, almost to himself, "Though I could use a weapon more than a companion."

Hitsugaya shook his head. "It's possible the vampire has been killed. It's also possible other victims were not so fortunate. Keeping track of individuals is impossible here, with as many vanishing and arriving as there are every day. We won't know until there's signs of more, but I assure you a single vampire or vampire wannabe isn't going to be a primary concern. Some of the other things out here are."

"Weapons are limited. If you work with us, I can get you a baseball bat, but that's the limit of what I can supply. You should find a bundle of pens in your desk if you think you can use that. You can also put yourself on Colonel Mustang's list. He has magic that he can use to make weapons, but he can only make one a night, and he currently has a waiting list that's at least a few weeks long."

He sneered slightly. "You can also listen to 'Mr. Radio's' clues. He leaves trials most nights with rewards, some of which have been swords. I hear once there was even a gun. But that involves playing his riddle game."

Shrugging at Angel's last comment, he added, "I don't know what powers you had before arriving here, but I can tell you the more potent you were, the more you're limited here, and the monsters that roam the halls can't all be fought off alone, no matter how skilled you might be. My 'club' here, and Colonel Mustang's as well, work in small groups of three. Small groups that can move quickly through the institute but have the backing needed to accomplish something worthwhile. You're welcome to work with either of us if you want to, we don't turn anyone down who's willing to help."

Angel quirked an eyebrow. This was apparently more complex than people simply being trapped. It almost seemed like there was an entire society being developed here. And as nice as a sword would be, the idea of playing someone else's games appealed to him about as much as it did to Hitsugaya.

At the offer to join the group, he gave a nod, though it was an acknowledgement rather than an actual acceptance of it. As helpful as the captain was being, he wasn't prepared to throw his lot in with anyone in particular just yet.

"I'll keep that in mind," he said, non-committal.

He was silent for a second or two in order to sort everything out, his gaze focused somewhere off to the side before returning to Hitsugaya. "Has anyone been beyond these walls?"

The answer was probably no, but it didn't hurt to ask. With the nurses he could see in the area, there really wasn't anything he could do at the moment but ask.

Hitsugaya nodded slightly. The loner types never did want to throw in their lot with any group, and Angel was obviously a bit of a loner. That didn't work in the institute. You got allies, or you wound up dead.

Still, there was no point to press the issue. He never did like trying to force people to join.

"Some of us have been outside during the day," he answered. "The nurses took us on a field trip to a nearby down. There's not much between here and there that I've been able to see. Woods, mostly. I imagine it's much worse at night, but then again, everything is. The town itself was quaint, but there wasn't much we could do with as many nurses as there were. This prison has an army of them, and each nurse is more than a match even for an armed shinigami."

He let the term slip loosely, but then again he didn't care all that much who knew anymore. After nearly a week here, things like worrying about how people took his being a God of Death didn't really matter anymore.

Woods. That, if nothing else, confirmed for sure that he was far from L.A. Nor anywhere he could determine.

And Angel honestly hoped that the field trip was a rare event. Or that he'd be able to somehow...not participate. Going anywhere outside was going to be a definite problem.

Attention caught by Hitsugaya's final words, he looked up. "Shinigami."

Hitsugaya nodded slightly. The man was clearly western, so he imagined he didn't know much about eastern terms. "That's right," he answered. "It's a bit complicated...but the best way to put it in western terms would be that I'm like the ghost Charon. I guide the dead from the land of the living into the land of the dead. There's more to it than that, but it's not likely to come up here."

A type of reaper, in other words. Interesting. Angel supposed it would make sense that they existed—he just hadn't ever encountered one personally, nor given it much thought. Probably because there'd been no need to guide him anywhere when he'd "died."

He peered thoughtfully at Hitsugaya. "And you judge where they go or is that left to someone else?"

Angel's curiosity made him pause briefly. Then again, most people would be curious about where they go when they die. "Most go to Soul Society. The very few truly irredeemable souls are sucked into the gates of hell. It's not exactly something we decide. It just ~happens~."

He shrugged. "But for the most part, everyone goes to the same place. We help those who are chained to this world cross over, and also help maintain the balance. Like I said, it's all a little complicated, and the living and the dead may not have the same relationship where you come from. Then again, they might. I don't know how familiar you are with where you go when you die..."

Soul Society. Now that was a term Angel hadn't ever come up against before. It sounded...well, modern. He'd expected something more rooted in some kind of ancient lore or mythology.

"I'm pretty familiar," he replied, the barest hint of irony making its way into his voice.

Far more familiar than he would've liked, really.

Hitsugaya raised an eyebrow. Now he was curious.

"How so?" he asked. He went by the name Angel. It was entirely possible that the man across the table from him *was* an angel. Weren't angels etherial servants or something of that nature? He made a note to do some research on western civilization whenever he had a chance.

Angel frowned slightly down at the table. His trip to hell and the circumstances surrounding it, not really something he wanted to detail.

"I...died, in a way," he said finally. "I died twice, actually. It's kind of a long story."

Hitsugaya shrugged. Curious he was. Nosey he was not. "Suit yourself," he replied. "Are you a spirit, then? Or is that complicated, too?"

"Not exactly. It's complicated, too," Angel said. It wasn't really about keeping what he was a secret—anyone not human usually had the ability to sniff him out; Skuld had done it just last night—but he couldn't find it in himself to comfortably come right out and announce it when he didn't have to, unlike the casual way Hitsugaya had let slip the word "shinigami." He almost envied that ability.

"So, your Soul Society," he went on, pushing the subject in the other direction. "If you're not there anymore, would you call this place the land of the living, or are we somewhere else entirely?"

Hitsugaya raised an eyebrow slightly, his curiosity once again piqued, but he wasn't going to push the issue. He could look at the man's spirit threads, but explaining why he suddenly got a bloody nose and felt dizzy would be difficult without insulting Angel. So for the moment he'd let it drop.

"It's hard to say," he replied. "For us to do our work on earth, we inhabit gigai...fake bodies. My guess is that this is a gigai binding us to this place, as most of the others here--at least those I've checked--are still alive."

That was what had felt a little off about Hitsugaya. Angel hadn't been able to place it until now. He wondered, too, how much of a choice these shinigami had in choosing their bodies. He couldn't quite say why someone would prefer the figure of a boy, but he couldn't claim to be any expert in understanding other people, either.

"A binding spell could explain it." He scanned his surroundings briefly. "I guess you didn't notice anything strange before you were pulled in here? Like, a disturbance in the air? Maybe some bright light?"

The portals he'd seen so far were more than obvious when they opened. How one could sneak up on him all of a sudden like this was disconcerting. He hadn't even been asleep at the time.

Hitsugaya shook his head. "All captain except one are highly proficient in binding kidou," he said. "I don't think it's something so simple as that. Whatever's doing this transcends my world, and seems to transcend the world of everyone I've spoken with."

His gaze was resolute. "That's why we have to tear it down until no stone remains upon another, so that no one else has to go through this."

Edited 2008-02-12 04:26 (UTC)

The Powers did appear to transcend all worlds, but they'd never interfered directly, certainly not to this level. Which only left one other possible entity.

"There is one thing," Angel said slowly, "that would fit that description. They call it the First Evil. It's...supposedly older than time, older than the world itself. And I know for a fact it can open dimensional gateways to bring back—” He paused, frowning a little. "Bring back those who shouldn't be back. I can't—I don't know what its true motives are exactly except that it's pure evil, but judging from what it attempted the last time it was around, I think it tries to tilt the cosmic balance. Plucking warriors from the battlefield or converting them to its side."

The absurdity of certain aspects of this place didn't entirely point to the First, but the First also seemed to work through other beings, manipulating them. The doctor everyone spoke of could very will just be serving the First, possibly even without really knowing it.

Hitsugaya pondered Angel's words. "Possible, yet not likely," he answered after some thought. "It's not just those who do their duties who find themselves trapped here. There's a traitor who worked to destroy the world here. There are monsters that have been trapped here, and their powers lost. Scoundrels and assassins. I don't see why Evil would seek to limit itself..."

"Oh. Well." That changed things. "Never mind."

Angel couldn't quite decide if this was good or not. His last encounter with the First hadn't exactly left him with a desire to run into it again anytime soon—or ever, really—but this sort of threw him back to square one.

He probably shouldn't be trying to figure this out right now. Maybe it was time to swap priorities. There was still the issue of Wesley and Cordelia, not to mention Buffy and her friends. If Hitsugaya had met people he knew, there was a possibility Angel wasn't entirely alone here.

"One more thing. I need to find some people," he said. "Any idea how I might go about doing that here?"

Hitsugaya finished off the last of his meal and set the tray aside. "There's no guaranteed way," he said. "But your best option is to use the bulletin board in the Sun Room. I don't have a map on me, but the sun room is easy to find. Just ask a nurse to take you there. Not everyone uses it, but most do as it's the only reliable way to keep organized. Mention you're looking for people and give their descriptions. If you can draw, put up a picture. If anyone's seen them, they'll let you know. Just...don't be surprised if no one has seen them. Not everyone has allies from their own world here."

Hitsugaya thought over what else the other man should know briefly, sitting back in his chair. Tonight was when they turned patients, wasn't it? "One more thing to be aware of. At night they...take people. It seems that they alternate their purposes. One night they torture them and experiment on them in cruel and unusual ways. The other night they 'change' them. Convince them that they're working for the institute. Release whatever seals are holding us down. It seems that they aren't allowed to kill prisoners, but they can do quite a bit of damage, depending on who they are. I'll warn you, if you see me or any of my people suggesting that you go back to your room, and if the air feels 'heavy' throughout the entire institute, run."

Day 30: Cafeteria, Breakfast

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