damned_institute | Day 35: Bus 2

Entry tags:

Day 35: Bus 2

Wally woke as the intercom crackled to life and was surprised to find himself back in his room. The last thing he'd remembered was feeling relieved at finally beating off those dragonfly-lizard things. There'd been that weird intercom message, then... he wasn't quite sure what had happened after that, but he was certain it hadn't involved falling asleep. He'd be half-wondering if he'd dreamed the whole thing if it hadn't been for the nagging ache on his back and ankle from where he'd been bitten. A quick check revealed they'd been bandaged, apparently while he'd slept. He wondered if he had Kal to thank for that. Maybe he'd get the chance to ask later.

He jumped as the door swung open to admit the familiar face of the nurse who'd woken him yesterday. "Up already, are we?" she said cheerfully as she busied herself pulling out clothes. A blue shirt and a pair of jeans were passed to him. Wally blinked, he hadn't been here long, but he'd gotten the impression that the grey-and-smiley-face combo was standard.

"Does this mean I'm being released?" he asked, hope creeping into his voice.

The nurse turned back to him, pity etched on her features. "I'm afraid not, dear." She smiled brightly as she continued, "but today's when all the patients get a special field trip into town! Won't that be a treat!"

Wally stared at the clothes, his mind working away. He'd been trying to get into town and to a phone last night before he'd been attacked. But if they were going in today, this might be the perfect chance for him to contact the Justice League. He smiled warmly and thanked the nurse as she left to allow him to change, then happily allowed himself to be led to one of the buses, picking a seat about halfway down and sliding in to look out the window. It seemed like today was going to be brighter than yesterday, at least in the area of possible phone calls and rescues. About the only dark patch he could see was that the contents of his paper-bag breakfast were going to be nowhere near enough to fill the yawning pit that had taken the place of his stomach, and even that was tolerable when he was positive he wasn't going to be here much longer.

"And you say that time goes rushing by, but it seems so slow to me, and you see a blur around you fly, but it takes too long, it seems so slow to me..." he sung absently.

[Oh Captain, my Captain~]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

They were going on a trip? That was new. Luckily, Archer had just tucked away his new treasure before the orderlies had awoken him this morning.

"Now Eric, how many times have I told you to be careful? Look at what happened to you. How many accidents has it been now? You need to be more careful."

"Sure," Archer curtly replied. He didn't feel like entertaining the nurse's misconception about the source of his wounds. It was all very tiring, and frankly, he didn't care whether she thought his were self-inflicted or from fighting monsters in the basement.

"Why don't you sit next to Sara? She looks like she could use a friend."

He was about disobey her and take one of the free, empty seats, but his nurse wouldn't let him. Since it was more trouble than it was worth, Archer didn't protest, sitting down next to "Sara."

"Excuse me," he said to his fellow patient, slightly apologetic. He didn't want to sit where he was unwelcome, but he didn't really have a choice in the matter. His eyes appreciated the nice view available to him but didn't linger very long. Well, at least he tried not to stare. In his past life, Rin had taught, more like physically punished, him the consequences for ogling. He had a little more control than when he was a teenager. Just a little.

Unfortunately, for the man sitting with her, Sheena was hypersenstitive to men staring at her cleavage so the glance was caught. Her eyes narrowed just a fraction but, seeing the man avert his gaze, she decided she wouldn't pummel him. Or even comment, though a tiny amount of color touched her cheeks though she attempted to cover it by fusing with her open package of apples.

"Hey," she greeted the man, slouching down in the seat to brace her knees against the back of the one before her. "I don't know what's up with that woman. My name's not Sara - it's Sheena."

"Sorry about that," Archer said sheepishly, averting his eyes slightly. Although he didn't clarify whether he was referring to sitting down or being caught staring. Seeing the slight blush on her cheeks, which was actually quite cute, he probably meant to apologize for the latter.

"And I'm Archer," he greeted politely as he got comfortable in his seat. From the corner of his eye, he glanced at his nurse, making sure she was a safe distance away before continuing. "Don't worry. It's just part of the Institute's daytime facade. Like they think we'll believe their ruse just because they've crafted false identities for us."

Just like Raine had kinda said. It was annoying. granted, 'Sheena' wasn't her true name, but still... it was hers and she rather liked it.

"Archer, huh?" The summoner looked over. "That's an odd name. Is it a tradesname or something like that?"

"Hm... I guess you could say it's also the name of my profession," he replied with a melancholy grin, closing his eyes for a moment in self-reflection. When he opened his eyes, he turned to meet her gaze.

Archer wondered if he should go on but decided there wasn't much harm. He'd already told some people, like Reinforce, that it was the title of his class and not his actual name. Well, it's not like it was some big secret like his actual identity. "I suppose it has more meaning to me that my real name."

Sheena could identify with that sentiment, kind of. In a way, her current name did howl more meaning than her true name, if only for the fact that it seemed like the only person aside from herself that would ever know it was her grandfather and he was... coma... yeah. She cherished here true name, but it was a secret, so she never ever used it.

The summoner tilted her head a little, concern in her eyes. "You seem kinda sad about that. Did something happen to make you not like your real name?"

He gave a short chuckle. "You could say that. I suppose you could say that back when I went by my real name I was an idiot."

In the last war, Archer remembered when he encountered his past self, Emiya Shirou. Looking back now, he couldn't help but laugh at his foolish actions, and all trouble he went through because of his naive ideals. Really, he was such a handful back then, giving Saber and Rin nothing but worry. "But, it's not like I hate my real name." At least not anymore. "It's just that my current name signifies who I am now. Does that make any sense?"

Sheena snorted. "We're all idiots. Just some of us are worse than others." Like that Idiot Chosen. Where was he anyways?

She smiled. "Yeah, that does make sense. When things happen in your life and your path changes, sometimes a new name is a reflection of that change," she said. "Not meant to dishonor your true name, but to show how you've progressed. The true name never goes away and has a deeper meaning than most realize."

She scratched the back of her neck. "Or something like that," she said, that tiny blush coming back to her face.

Back to the apples. "So... do you use a bow and arrow? I was never any good with them, always getting snapped by the string and stuff..."

"I'm glad you understand," he replied. Archer could tell Sheena understood him and wondered if Sheena was her real name? He didn't have any reason to doubt her and didn't want to offend her, so he said nothing about it. "You were able to explain it more eloquently than I was."

Damn, she was really cute when she blushed like that. Glancing out the window, he tried to take his mind off his hormones as he watched the natural scenery quickly breeze by them.

He laughed slightly at her revelation. "Heh, I let you in on a secret. It was the same for me when I started doing archery. Where I come from we call it Kyudo, which focuses moral and spiritual development, but like many things in life, it just simply takes some time getting used to. The only thing you can really do is practice until you get the hang of it."

Sheena shrugged at the compliment, a shy smile touching her lips. Though, at Archer's laugh, she started to get upset, thinking he was about to make fun of her, when he admitted he'd been beaten by the bow when he first started so she calmed down.

"Eh... it's not really my thing," Sheena replied. "The bow isn't a standard weapon of my people, so only a few take the time to learn more than the basics and the others prefer the small hand held crossbow instead."

"Certainly a crossbow is more convenient in some ways. It's more accurate, but its range is limited. The bow is quicker, lighter, and has longer range, but I just use it since I'm familiar with it. At my school, archery was the principal's hobby, so our facilities were much more extravagant than others." Archer said this a slight but certain fondness, as he reminisced his younger days, when things were simpler. He became slightly sheepish when he realized what he had done. "Sorry, I was rambling there for a moment."

"So what is your thing?" he asked, genuinely curious. Archer could tell Sheena was a fighter of sorts. Her body was lean and fit, but more than that, it was a feeling he got from her, and Archer had learned to trust his instincts.

"No, it's okay," Sheena replied. "I like it when people can think fondly on their childhood." Especially since she couldn't do the same.

The summoner grinned then. "Me? The Mizuho specialize in the ninja arts. Specifically, I'm a guardian fighter." And a summoner, but since she couldn't feel her pacts, she was a little hesitant to mention them.

A ninja... That would've sounded pretty preposterous to someone else, but Archer had seen a lot, things most people could never even dream of. Meeting a ninja wasn't nearly as hard to swallow.

"Hm. I'm not very familiar with ninja arts or the term guardian fighter. Could you tell me a little more? I assume you've trained in martial arts?" he asked, looking straight at Sheena, giving her his full attention.

"Now, now... you wouldn't be trying to get Mizuho secrets out of me, are you?" Sheena asked, a light teasing tone to her voice.

"Ah, you saw right through me," Archer lightly joked, playing along with Sheena. "That's too bad."

Sheena laughed a moment before suddenly getting serious. "You're not - right?" She paused. "Cause I won't, but I can give you the same knowledge that the more learned people of Tethe'alla know."

"Don't worry. I only asked because I'm interested in you and your capability as a fighter, but I also understand if there's stuff you can't talk about," he calmly replied. Archer of all people understood the value of secrets, and since she was from a ninja clan, he could only assume the mountain of secrets they kept hidden.

"Oh. Okay." Sheena ducked her head a little, blushing again. "Sorry. I just have a friend that's pretty persistent at trying to learn the things I'm not supposed to tell others about so I get a little defensive."

"But yeah... ninja are trained from a very young age to fight hand-to-hand and most of us master it by the time we're old enough to date," she explained, the flush to her face dying down. "The difference between a regular ninja and a guardian fighter is that a guardian uses seals and spell cards as a focus to create certain effects out of mana. A skilled guardian can make a card as sharp as a sword, as strong as a shield and can throw them with the accuracy and deadliness of a dart."

"Hah, I know the feeling," Archer replied when Sheena commented about nosy friends. Rin and Issei were good friends, but they could be pretty meddlesome at times.

"I see," he said in an contemplating manner. Archer was very pleased with her response. So she beauty and skills; the best of both worlds. "You must a very capable fighter, balancing hand-to-hand combat techniques and magical skills."

Again, Sheena blushed, not used to what seemed to be real compliments. If they really were real compliments.

"Oh no... I don't cast magic; I only have like a trickle of elven blood in me," the summoner replied. "I don't use any spells other than when I'm summoning or using my elemental spells. My friends are the ones that cast magic. I mean, I can't sense the mana flow or anything like that and you kinda need to be able to do that to cast magic."

"You're selling yourself short," Archer said honestly. "As a mage myself, I can tell you not everyone has a sharp sixth sense. Also, there aren't many people where I'm from who study martial arts along with their magecraft studies. Plus, as I understand it, Summoning is a particularly difficult art, and few people can become good summoners."

Making sure he had her attention, Archer stared into her eyes as he spoke, putting genuine emotion behind his words. "Trust me. You're pretty amazing."

The summoner furrowed her brow and bit the bottom of her lip. Archer really seemed like he meant what he said but... he wasn't from her worlds, so he couldn't possibly know the difference between mana techniques and actual spells. She then sighed. "You haven't even seen me do anything; you don;t even know if I'm telling you the truth." She'd just overlook the fact that she pretty much was an open book... besides, lying was wrong.

She decided to change the subject off of some guy she just met complimenting her on stuff he couldn't understand completely, she latched onto something he'd said. "There are summoners where you're from? Are they common? I'm the only summoner to be born in the last 4000 years back in my worlds, so I've never met another one..."

"That's true. I haven't seen you in action yet, and the restrictions this place puts on us doesn't help either," Archer conceded. "I'm sorry if I offended you. It's just that compared to some of the other people I've encountered here, you've got an impressive resume."

When she switched topics, Archer didn't object, deciding to go with the flow. "There are certainly people capable of summoning where I'm from, but it's a mere shadow of the original art. There are very few, true summoners left in my time. According to our history, they vanished over time, when my people slowly turned away from the gods and towards technology."

That just wasn't right. "The spirits must be so sad," Sheena replied, her voice very quiet. She looked out the window and put two fingers to the glass, wishing she could feel the wind or any of the elements she had become so connected to.

Realizing she'd drifted away from the conversation, she looked back. "Sorry..."

"Perhaps. My people may not be able to summon any longer, but we're still able to communicate with them," he said, trying to comfort her. "We've learned skills like spiritual evocation and invocation from Shamans, although our proficiency is limited."

"It's alright," Archer replied, trying to discern her sudden shift in mood. "Is there something wrong?"

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject