damned_institute | Nightshift 32: West Wing, Hall 2-A

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Nightshift 32: West Wing, Hall 2-A

[From here]

The sounds of battle didn't seem to follow them as Tyki slipped into the next hallway. That was at least one less bothersome problem to stand between him and his cigarettes (provided that he'd find any tonight, of course).

The hallway they stood in now didn't look any different than any other hallway. It didn't really make for exciting scenery, but that wasn't really what the Noah was currently bothered with. He glanced at the various doors in front of him, and groaned at the sight of having even more directions to choose from. They had to be kidding him. Did it ever end?

The Noah was starting to get annoyed by all of this. He was going to kill the person responsible for making this building. And the one who decided it would be a good idea to steal his cigarettes and make him go through nicotine withdrawal. Chances were they were actually the same person, but that would save him some extra work anyway.

He had no idea where any of these doors led to, and doubted his nightshift companion would know much more than him. Just his luck to run into someone that was just as new as he was, but there wasn't really anything he could do about it.

"So, which door should we take?" he asked her anyway. Why should he decide all the time?

[ETA: Mixed up the East and West. It's fixed now. Sorry! D:]

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The reasoning was simple enough, being that Lia had no source of light, and so could not efficiently take the lead. She'd no problem determining direction once asked, however. Indeed, she seemed more comfortable in this role than that of a passive companion as she stepped forward to try the first door on the left.

Locked, of course. She eyed it, brow creasing a little as she frowned in consternation. Had she been in her own world, she could have passed through, but here something as simple as a physically locked door was a nigh insurmountable obstacle. And least for Lia, who knew little more of picking locks than a goldfish might of scaling mountains.

"The first unlocked one we find," she replied, the faint frown still marring her features. "And hope we're not being herded to some purpose."

Tyki wasn't used to being stopped by a door. Even if he didn't have an opportunity to simply phase through it by using his powers, there was always a lock pick. But he currently had none of the two, and the obstacle in front of his nose was pretty much rubbing that in. And with the bothersome whatever-it-was in the previous hallway, trying to kick it open didn't seem like such a good idea.

They didn't have much of a choice but to leave the door be and pick another. He moved towards the door located at the end of the hallway and grabbed the handle, half expecting this one to be locked as well. He was surprised to see that it wasn't.

"That would be this one, then." he said, pushing the door further open and stepping into the next area.

[To here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/369972.html)]

[from here] (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/369031.html?thread=30047879#t30047879)

The Bride moved their trio quickly down to the end of the hallway, fingertips lightly brushing along the left-hand wall, counting the doorways they encountered along the way. When she reached the door at the end of the hallway that lead to the outdoor patio, the place where she received the injuries that were starting to really bother her, she stopped and knelt down.

"Alright, girls," she said in a low voice. "Just past this door is where the snake-bird was last night. Cover your flashlight with your hand, Mion, and turn it on. I need the light for a moment." The damn bandages were getting really itchy and she needed to adjust them before she had to possibly fight off that lightning serpent again.

"Relay me the plan I outlined earlier," she told both girls as she tugged at the bandages a moment before deciding she needed to tear the section of the gauze around her wrists off and proceeded to do so, using her teeth, while listening to the girls. It never occurred to her that they might be a bit grossed out by the small visible part of the electrical burns she was exposing.

The whole hallway had felt... eerie, for some reason, but Mion couldn't quite place why it felt like that as she walked through it. Still, she was glad she was going to be out of it, even if it meant there would be a monster coming up in a moment. Mion nodded at Arlene's request, though just as she turned on the light, Arlene ripped off the bandages, and well... Mion was too taken aback by it to finish covering the light.

"H-Hey, that looks pretty bad!" Mion said, startled at the small exposure of injured skin - which she guessed there might have been more of. Her next question might have been kind of redundant, all things considered, but Mion wasn't really thinking much at that point. "Are you alright?"

So close... Ugh, she was beginning to feel far too nervous for her liking. Rena could only take comfort in the fact that it was dark, and neither Mion nor Arlene would notice her jittery self. They had enough on their plates as is.

Finally, they reached the door. The redhead was just about to reiterate the plan as instructed when Mion pointed out the injury. Instead, a wave of guilt passed over the younger girl while a look of concern fell upon her face. That really didn't look good...

"Y-Yes, Arlene-san, are you all right?" she added nervously.

Such stupid questions. Beatrix looked up sharply at the girls, but then her expression softened a little. They were only teenagers and, even though Rena had been there the previous night, she hadn't seen the extent of her injuries. Rena was probably feeling really guilty as the burns were received because the ex-assassin had protected her from them. Better me than her, she thought to herself.

"It hurts, but I'm fine." She looked up at Mion, the illumination from the unshielded flashlight momentarily winking off of the slightly exposed metal plate in her head at the left temple. "I've had worse," she said with a quirk of her lips. "Remember?"

She went back to the bandages and got the last bit around her wrist torn off and she flexed her hands, rolling her wrists. It hurt, but at least now she had better freedom with her hands. "Focus girls, please - the plan."

"A... Ah... Right," Mion couldn't help but look away for a moment at Arlene's plate, whether because it was because it reminded her of her own or the fact that a friend had gone through the same thing she had - though Mion had already accepted the fact that Arlene had had this happen to her a few days ago - Mion wasn't sure. Mion watched Arlene finish off her bandages, and then nodded, calming herself.

Now wasn't the time to get nervous or worried again - in a few minutes they'd be armed and ready to take down any monster - or person - that came up against them.

"The plan is for us to follow you through the patio, where you would have gone in already to check for monsters. When we're sure that it's safe, or at least that the path to the door is, I'll run ahead and kick the door open," Mion paused, glancing from Arlene to Rena, and then continued. "And after I have the door open, Rena and then you will follow me through it. ... Right?"

A glimmer from one side of Arlene's head caught Rena's eye, and for a long minute, she stared, wondering if what she'd seen matched up to reality. The girl finally decided it was a trick of light or paranoia and turned away. Goodness, she needed to calm down.

Come on, Rena. Get a grip, she chastised silently while offering an acknowledging nod to the woman.

As Mion outlined their plan, Rena listened carefully, making sure to reiterate the important points in her mind. Although her friend had more or less covered the parts, she couldn't help adding one particular bit:

"And I stay here until Mi-chan opens the door." As much as she hated to admit, the idea sounded pretty good to her nerves.

"Exactly," Beatrix said, giving both girls a small smile. She'd caught Rena staring at her for a little while, but the girl didn't say anything, so the Bride decided she wouldn't question why the girl was giving her the look she was. There was a chance in the light Rena may have seen the metal in the older woman's head but this was not necessarily the time to talk about it. If it came up, it'd come up.

"Light off," she told Mion and then, after waiting for her eyes to adjust properly, she opened the door and moved outside.

[to here] (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/369972.html)

[From here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/369031.html?thread=30192775#t30192775).]

This hallway was fairly silent, to the point Ken wondered if the place was empty. There could have been someone at the end of the hall, but the darkness made it difficult to tell. At least it wasn't a factor for them, as long as nothing drew close.

He stepped ahead of his teammate and thus, reached the door to the staff library first. That, however, quickly proved to be fruitless as the entrance did not give way on the first push.

"Crap." Ken frowned, obviously disappointed. "It's locked."

Yukari checked with her light, as well; emptiness accompanied the silence when they turned the corner. For the first time, they truly were alone somewhere. The thought of it chilled her for a moment, yet she quickly shoved the thought aside. She couldn't be afraid because of that.

Ken's statement made her echo his expression, grabbing the doorknob for herself before stepping back with an irritated sigh. "Stupid locks are everywhere, I swear," Yukari muttered, thinking back on their past efforts. "Okay; kicking it didn't work--" not for them, anyway. "-- and ramming it didn't work. If you have any other ideas, let's hear them."

"Hmm." The boy bit his lip, thinking over their choices, before his eyes fell on Adelheid's spear. The possibility was a long shot--he'd never done anything quite like it--but it was also the best chance they had of opening the door. He couldn't argue with trying.

With a hopeful expression, Ken nodded. "I can try something," he said, "but, um, you might want to stand back, Yukari-san." The act required a good deal of room to pull off, after all.

"Huh?" Despite her puzzled, curious look, Yukari stepped back as instructed. "What are you-- wait, don't tell me you're gonna..."

She trailed off with a small expression of disbelief. Oh, she had an idea, all right-- but on a door... The thing was never gonna see it coming, that's for sure.

As he was focused on the task at hand, Ken failed to reply right away. Instead, he shuffled the weapon from his shoulder to his hands, aiming its point directly above the doorknob. Not too close, though. Metal against metal could cause damage to the wrong object.

It all happened in a matter of seconds. Using both his shoulders and his feet to build momentum, Ken lunged forward with the spear. The sharpened end drove right into his target, the force of the impact causing the wood to crack and splinter. As soon as he recovered his balance, the boy pulled back and did it again, this time resulting in a rather messy hole in the door.

He observed his "work" for a moment before bringing the weapon back over his shoulder. "Now it might open."

Ha ha... Naturally.

The noise of impact was loud in the quiet hallway. Once it had died down, Yukari hastily glanced around, making sure it had not caught the attention of any unwanted company. If the continuing silence from before was any indication, it had not. In a breath of relief, she approached the door again.

"Might? It looks like knob is about to fall off." Of course, she didn't mind a single bit. The job was done, almost effortlessly! With a nonchalant shrug, she continued, "Good thing neither one of us has to fix it."

[to here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/381179.html).]

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Nightshift 32: West Wing, Hall 2-A

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