damned_institute | 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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Who? If not by Amelia's hand, then surely another would come through for the side of Justice! She didn't know who, or how, but good always triumphed over evil! Amelia believed that with all her heart. And as long as she kept believing, a path to victory would reveal itself eventually!

She would have voiced those hopeful thoughts, too, had Hellmaster not just brought the safety of every bystander around them into question. As soon as he mentioned it, the princess shut her mouth and slunk back down into her seat. The others in the room - men, women and children - they were all at his mercy, and they didn't even know it! While her righteous blood boiled and raged, crying for Justice... Amelia couldn't make a move!

"You monster!" she cried, her voice lowered in volume but still sharp with anger. "Don't you dare hurt them!"

Good. If Amelia's demeanor was any indication, she was still under the belief that Hellmaster was in a position of power and was, in fact, calling the shots. "Oh, I wouldn't dare hurt anyone. That is, not unless a certain princess went around saying things she has no business saying. Then I might find my charity stretched a bit thin."

"For example," he continued, "Do you know why I have chosen to reveal my presence to you?"

Even though Amelia refused to give in to despair, the gravity of the threat was not lost on her. She couldn't endanger those around her! Until her chance came, she would need to sit quiet and exercise caution. And sitting quiet while in the presence of such unforgivable injustice was not something Amelia could do easily!

But she had already made a scene. If what Hellmaster was saying was true, she was on thin ice as it was. "Why?" she asked cautiously.

"Because I know how much this is going to hurt you, so much more than killing you ever would." He looked thoughtful, leaning back slightly and putting a finger to his chin. "Besides, I want you alive to the end to see everything fall into place." Whatever that meant. His plans at the moment weren't very far along, but as far as the princess was concerned, they were-- and far more sinister at that. "So, tell me. How do you think it will feel when you know I am involved and cannot tell anyone?"

Hellmaster caught Amelia's eye. "I mean, you could tell everyone. You could jump on top of this table right now, waving your little finger in my face, and give a loud speech to everyone here about my 'nature' and my plans. But if you do that, I guess I'd be forced to kill everyone who overheard your little scene."

Phibrizzo smirked and added, "Or maybe I could only kill the Chimera. You remember him, don't you? He isn't even aware of my presence, unlike you, so it'd certainly be a surprise to him. Much less of mess than killing everyone, though, so I suppose that would be more to your liking, would it not?"

Only a Mazoku would use such inhumane tactics. For an Ally of Justice to be forced into cooperating with such an evil entity... it was shameful! It was inconceivable! Most of all, it was unjust!

And she couldn't even stand up and make a speech about it!

... The Chimera?

It could only mean one person, of course. He had already been caught up in this diabolical plot!? Frustrated and furious, Amelia growled at the Mazoku, which perhaps would have been intimidating if she wasn't so tiny and her voice wasn't so high. "You leave Mr. Zelgadis out of this!"

"Oh, you do remember him!" Phibrizzo grinned, his mood lightened in actuality and not only in appearence. "I'm so happy to hear that! Well, don't worry your pretty little head about him, Princess. He'll be fine as long as you play along with my game."

"If you would prefer to be responsible for his untimely death, you're welcome to say something about my presence to either him or anyone else here. But how badly do you want to see someone die because of your big mouth? That never really struck me as your thing. But we didn't truly get to know each other before, did we?" He 'hmm'-ed and leaned towards Amelia. "You should be honored to be witness to this; who else would appreciate what I'm doing here?"

Amelia cringed under the Mazoku's gaze. This was all a game to him!

And now she knew for sure that Zelgadis was nearby. Amelia tried to sneak a glance around the room, but could find no signs of the man's telltale stony complexion or wiry hair. Given Hellmaster's threats, it was probably for the best that he wasn't in sight. It wasn't like she could go to him for help, anyway.

"You won't get away with this," the princess hissed. There was still hope. There was always hope! Maybe not now, but in due time, Justice would be served!

Well, everything seemed to be taken care of for the moment, Hellmaster was pleased to note. Amelia's anger implied she believed in the validity of his threats and would keep his presence to herself. That was all he could hope for, really, at the moment, short of actually regaining his powers and slaughtering everyone.

"And neither will Zelgadis if you say anything," he reminded. Ah, he could threaten her all day. "Sit back and enjoy the show. Who knows? You might have fun."

Only someone as disgusting as him would find any of this fun! Amelia shot the villain a defiant look before standing abruptly and taking her leave. She didn't know how much more injustice she could stand to hear about before losing her temper.

The princess wasn't exactly sure where she was going to storm off to, this being her very first time in the cafeteria - and in the institute, for that matter - but getting far away from the Mazoku lord seemed like a good start.

Day 30: Cafeteria, Breakfast

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