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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"Stupid!" Skuld snapped. She wasn't strong enough to carry him, but she could at least push him back into his seat. Straightening up, she glared at him. "So are you saying you should have been named for Nemesis, instead? Fine.

"I'm still pledged to protect everyone."

She knew better than to judge by words; actions were what mattered. And so far, he'd tried to help her.

"Something you're regretting?" Artemis said with a smirk, sitting in his chair again. He had no idea what she was talking about concerning this 'Nemesis' thing, but he could guess. She'd called him evil--that was plain to see. Evil, arrogant, brat, he'd heard it all. Nothing phased him anymore.

"I wouldn't blame you if you did regret it."

Skuld responded by sitting back down. "No. Unless she knows you deserve it, Nemesis is nicer than you might think." Her voice was a little sharp; she was still mad, but she didn't have any reason to hate him. "Vengeance doesn't mean hurting people for fun."

She had a ripcord temper under the best of circumstances, but she'd thrown a pastry, not a punch. She gave and got worse than this with Urd and Peorth just in their battles over the TV, and that was for fun.

"Fun and profit," He corrected with a smile. Ah, so she had been referring to mythology again.

"Well, I don't particularly think 'Nemesis' has the same ring to it that 'Artemis' does, but I suppose we share a few qualities. I don't take from innocents, and I've begun thinking of people besides myself. Even making a few friends."

He trailed off, silence passing between them. Skuld looked rather angry, and he hadn't meant to say all of that. He had just been so angry...

Rages. Another sign of testosterone flooding his system. He was acting more and more like an uncivilized animal by the second.

"I apologize," He said quietly. "It wasn't my intention to incense you."

That made her look up. "My sister Urd and I do a lot worse, so--I didn't think it would make you mad, either. Sorry." She didn't apologize often, either.

At that point Skuld realized that she was more on-edge than she'd been admitting, and Belldandy wasn't around to calm her down. So, she'd have to learn control here... she was getting a lot better with her magic, but that was all she'd been focused on. And it wasn't all that mattered.

She found her napkin and handed it to him; getting stickiness off took a while. "Want some water?"

So, he'd been making friends, he said? She needed some too.

"Yes, please," He said, dipping the napkin she'd handed him in her water glass and dabbing at his face. Well, it was better than a new bruise. At least she hadn't slapped him.

Now that he was calm, he had to explain. Otherwise Skuld might continue to think that he was as evil as he'd portrayed himself. "I'm sorry I stared at you. I'm a normal, fourteen-year-old boy in the sense that I am undergoing puberty, currently. I can't help my fascination with girls or my quick temper. I say things I don't really mean."

He looked down at his hands, "There was no way you could have known about my father. I apologize for that as well."

Skuld couldn't say much about temper, considering what hers was like; at least she didn't actually hit people when she was mad, unlike in her toddler years. As for the staring... she kind of didn't want to comment on her own body, either way!

Less self-consciously, she added, "You're in puberty? That can't be fun." She noticed boys, but for now, machines were what really grabbed her interest. She would prefer if it stayed that way!

She wasn't sure what to make of the comment about his father; she had no idea what precisely she'd said had set him off. "Everybody has things they don't like to talk about." Well, most people; she didn't have anything that bad.

Artemis nodded, rubbing his forehead as though he had a headache, "Sheer, unadulterated hell," He said, emphasizing each word. "I used to be able to devote all of my brain power to the task at hand, but I'm distracted by thoughts of women," And in some cases, boys. "I find myself staring quite often, and I try not to--I really do. It's disrespectful, but I can't help it." He reached over and took a bite of the eggs his nurse had given him, swallowed and continued.

"It's going to be the death of me one day. I'll stare at the wrong woman, she'll become offended and kill me. End of story."

He avoided the subject of the things he didn't like to talk about. He had plenty, right now.

Skuld would have answered--Urd had told her more than she really wanted to know on that topic--but the sound of the growing riot made her jump out of her chair in alarm, fast enough to knock it over. Whirling, she stared for a second, eyes wide, before backing up until she was standing behind Artemis. "Oh boy..."

It could have been worse, but personally she found their location WAY too close to all the violence for comfort.

"Come on!" She grabbed the handles of Artemis' wheelchair and pulled him backwards.

Artemis barely had time to grab onto the armrests of his chair before Skuld pulled him back.

This was bad. This was so bad. It was quite possibly even worse than the bus incident. There were so many people, and he was immobile. Things could get very strenuous very quickly, and he might not be able to escape unscathed.

He hated mobs. He hated mob mentality. The unruly group of patients had nothing to gain from such an outburst, except perhaps sedation and further injury.

"Get us out of here!" He called over the ruckus. "Someone's going to get hurt, and it's not going to be us! Make for the cafeteria door!"

"Yeah!" The nurses might react badly to that, but they had to try.

Or so Skuld thought, until she got just in sight of the doors; they were guarded, and the nurses in question had needles out already. Not wanting to attract attention, she quickly backtracked to a clear spot, near a wall but not so close they could get cornered.

What's going on...? Her hands tightened on the wheelchair's push handles, in an effort to keep them from shaking. Again, it wasn't entirely fear; she should be helping, but she couldn't.

"If I'm supposed to help out here, tell me HOW!" she yelled up at the ceiling, helpless anger swelling up inside her. "Don't expect me to do the work of a Goddess First Class when I barely have the power of a minor kami!"

She had gotten them decently far from the riot, but she could still see enough to have a very good idea what was going on. Tears of frustration and anger coming to her eyes, she shouted, "Or why not help them yourself! One minute of interference won't cause Ragnarök!"

Nothing... she let go and clenched her fists until she felt trickles of blood starting to run down her palms. She wasn't a Valkyrie, who did she think she fooling? If she was, she would have been able to do something. As it was, she barely had any idea how to fight... really, she was just a little kid! Forget being a trainee, she wasn't even a drummer! She never had been able to do much... no, she was all talk.

She looked down at the blood staining her fingertips. All talk... she didn't have many powers to use, but she had her voice. She wasn't good at Holy Song under the best of circumstances--she couldn't do it alone, she needed someone to follow. But while she had a feeling she couldn't sing any magic here, she still knew the words. And there was something special about music, no matter who sang it.

"Sá hon valkyrjur, vítt um komnar, görvar at ríða til Goðþjóðar..." Her voice was strong and clear, carrying over even most of the shouts. Nobody would understand a word, but they would know it was a fighting song--and it would hopefully spur them on. She couldn't lend her strength physically, but there were other ways.

Artemis was at the head of the Good Ship Panic as Skuld pushed him around the floor, dodging chairs and eventually resting by a wall. They were trapped... but out of harm's way for now.

She was shouting in that strange and beautiful language again, and Artemis really had no idea who she was talking to, and if it was possible, even less as to what she was saying.

But she was bleeding now, from gripping the handles of the chair tightly. The boy bit his lip in thought, trying to analyze the fight and see if there was a place they could escape to. Their chances looked grim.

Artemis knew then and there that Skuld was an actual goddess. He could see she was frustrated, and unable to do anything to help the people she was supposed to protect. She was taking the situation out on herself. And she began singing...

The song steeled Artemis' resolve, and even though he couldn't hold himself up on his arms previously, he had to do something--for her sake. He was already scarred enough from the inability to perform the way he would back home. He wouldn't leave Skuld to find her way through that forest of trauma by herself.

"Do not go gently into that good night..." Artemis recited. He set his jaw and pushed himself out of the chair. "Let's go, keep singing!" He held out his hand to her.

"Mank valkyrjur, Viðris nefna! Hrist, Mist, Herja..." Since she wasn't having to maintain a spell with her song, Skuld was able to keep a close eye on the battle; if she'd been at full power, having to hold even a reasonably simple spell-song together would have taken all her concentration to even partially work.

Was this her answer?

When Artemis spoke, Skuld was startled, but still didn't miss a note. She didn't know what he was planning, but she could guess that he wanted to help too--even if he couldn't fight any more than she could. Did he have a plan?

"Hlökk, Geiravör, Göll, Hjörþrimul, Gunnr, Herfjötur..." Slowly, she unclenched her hands. Four thin trickles of blood still ran down from each palm, but it was only right that the resident goddess--the future Valkyrie--shed blood alongside those she could do so little for.

Whatever he intended--well, the gods had to put faith in mortals sometimes, too.

"Geirönul, Skögul 'k Randgníð! Ráðgríðr, Göndul, Svipul, Geirskögul..."

Artemis took Skuld's hand and began dragging her through the cafeteria. Some people were just sitting there, others were getting up to join the fight. Well, whatever floated their boat--Artemis wasn't about to be trampled underfoot by an angry mob. They tended to only have one-track minds, after all. It wasn't unheard of for children to be caught in the flow of a mob.

Had he just actually referred to himself as a child? He groaned inwardly. This place really was starting to get to him.

As more patients joined the brawl, another wave of nurses and orderlies burst into the the cafeteria--syringes at the ready. The boy made a sharp turn, navigating around the group. More people... lovely.

He wished Hitsugaya was there--the Captain would know what to do. Artemis scanned the crowd, looking for any sign of his leader. There was so much chaos, it was impossible to see where he was.

And as wonderful and beautiful Skuld's song was, his head was starting to spin again. Perfect. The only way they were going to get out of this unsedated was if someone played the victim...

"Ah!" Artemis cried out in frustration and dropped to the ground. "Stay here, Miss Skuld. Look worried. Scream if you have to--it's important," Artemis muttered loud enough for Skuld to hear over the chaos.

When Artemis dropped, Skuld thought he was actually falling and jumped to make sure he didn't get hurt. All that meant was that she smeared blood on his shirt as well as his hands; despite the pressure she was putting on open wounds, she barely even winced, and she still managed to keep singing.

Trusting he was okay, she stayed standing and watched; her rhythm rose and fell with the tide of the battle. They wouldn't sedate her just for singing, would they? If they did--fine, she could take it. Anyone could see she was supporting the fighters.

"Oh my God!" A nurse rushed over to Artemis, slipping a capped syringe back in her scrubs. Certainly she wouldn't have to sedate children--especially when one of them had just gotten caught in the ruckus! "Mr. Malloy, are you alright?" She looked up at Skuld, "What happened?"

Artemis had to admit, the blood down his front was a nice touch. It made him appear more injured than he really was. Icing on the cake time...

"Uuuh..." Artemis rolled his eyes back in his head. "So many people...!"

"...helt skildi, en Skögul önnur, Gunnr, Hildr, Göndul 'k Geirskögul--" Skuld broke off when she heard a nurse right next to them. She wanted to back away, but wasn't about to leave Artemis alone.

"I... I don't know," she said, barely loud enough to be heard. As far as she knew, Artemis was fine--so she could guess that he was trying to get sympathy. She obviously wasn't hurt beyond the self-inflicted (if accidental) hand injuries, but there were other ways to make people feel sorry for you. "We were trying to get somewhere safe, and he--he fell down..." Tears formed in her eyes; under the circumstances, she had no trouble making herself cry.

"Don't worry yourself, sweetheart, it's okay," the nurse assured. Skuld barely managed not to ask who the crazy one was here. "Come on, let's get you somewhere safe."

Skuld nodded tearfully; hoping Artemis could walk for a while longer, she went to help him up. As she took his hand, she whispered in Latin "Why is she so calm?" The patients weren't doing as well against the staff as she would have hoped, but the riot was still far from over... or so it looked.

"Because she thinks she has control of the situation," Artemis replied back, masking the Latin words as deranged mutterings. He helped Skuld help him up, but he ended up leaning on her a bit more than he had intended to. His injuries were fine, but it was the leftover poison that had so severely weakened him.

"I-I was in a wheelchair," Artemis called to the nurse. "But I got scared and tried to run. It didn't work so good..."

The boy wanted to throttle himself, he sounded so insipid.

"Here, follow me," the nurse urged. She put Skuld and Artemis in front of her. "Clear the way, injured patient!" She called. Nearing the orderlies guarding the door, she turned to speak with one of them. "I need a wheelchair for this boy. He's injured and--"

Artemis grabbed Skuld's wrist roughly and took off, the orderlies looking dumbstruck.

"Where are we going?" Skuld hissed, still in Latin--anything to make sure fewer people would understand them. She was perfectly willing to bolt with him, but she was also quite aware this could go very badly.

Also... adrenaline could only get them so far, and he really was hurt. There was no way the first time she'd seen him fall had been faked.

"Out," Artemis simply replied, but he didn't get very far. Well, it had been worth a shot.

One orderly seized the back of his shirt and dragged him backwards and out of his slippers, kicking and flailing. Okay, plan A backfired, and now he had to make up for the blunder. There was no way both of them were going to be sedated, at the very least.

Raising his arms above his head (which really hurt, considering his shoulder was still not fully recovered), he slid out of his shirt and darted behind Skuld.

"My apologies," He whispered in her ear before pushing her at the oncoming orderlies and turning to run.

Skuld gaped at him for a second. Had he really just...? "What do you think you're DOING, you jerk!?!" she screeched. Again not even thinking about it, she threw a burst of power at him; a brief flicker on his back gave her a pretty good idea that it had worked. Artemis would probably think the faint brush of wind meant she'd either missed or had discovered that power didn't work, either... until he got undressed. He now had a multitude of insults stamped on him--and all over his back, from shoulders to knees.

She would have continued screaming, and called him much worse--Urd had taught her well--but she was grabbed from behind before she could do anything else; startled, she burst into tears. It was mostly faked, but they wouldn't know that. "He--he--" she gulped. "I didn't want to go with him, but I was s-so scared..."

"Where did the two of you think you were going?" a nurse demanded, far less gently than the last one.

"I don't know!" she wailed. At least it was true. "I said I wanted to get away, and he said he'd help, but I didn't know he meant..."

A nurse pulled out a syringe; honestly none too fond of needles, Skuld started sobbing when she saw it. "No, please! I'm sorry... I want my sister!" She was the picture of a terrified, helpless little girl and she knew it. "Please don't... please..."

One of the other nurses sighed. "I'll take you back to your room. If you even look like you're thinking about trying anything, you're getting sedated."

Skuld nodded, tearfully, and slowly got to her feet. She kept her head down and walked by the nurse's side; all she wanted at the moment was to get back to her room without getting drugged.

She was going to KILL Artemis the next time she saw him.

Artemis didn't get very far yet again. Pushing Skuld had provided enough of a distraction for him to get two steps further than he probably would have. The sudden gust of wind on his back gave him pause, and he looked around. Three orderlies were advancing on him from the back, one nurse from the front.

Oh my, he was rather screwed, wasn't he?

The orderlies forced him down onto the ground and held him--one on his legs, the other on his left arm and neck, the last on his right arm and back. He cried out in pain as he was pinned, his injuries still protesting that he shouldn't move.

The nurse uncapped her syringe and knelt down to deliver the final blow. He started struggling upon seeing Skuld getting the same from another nurse, but it was useless. The needle slid in, and the boy shouted, gritting his teeth. It had to happen sometime, getting sedated.

It was unpleasant, to say the least. He could feel his eyelids getting heavier, and everything seemed to move much slower. Artemis couldn't even find his tongue if he tried. He watched Skuld get up and walk off, free from drugs, happily. It was her first day, and she didn't deserve to be caught up in something that was so wildly out of her control. Especially on her first day. At least she was safe now, and in control.

He wanted to say something, but he knew he couldn't--not without suggesting that she had been part of his plan to escape. It was critical that the staff continued to believe that she had been a hostage and he was the sole instigator of the whole shebang. He had been here longer, and therefore was more desperate for escape--or so he rationalized. The staff wouldn't suspect Skuld... Diana... whoever, of orchestrating a plan--especially not when Artemis was probably on suicide watch by now. He was a much more high-profile case as far as they were concerned.

When he next came to his senses, the orderlies were placing him in a wheelchair. Well, at least he was going to get out of the mob scene...

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Day 30: Cafeteria, Breakfast

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