damned_institute | Day 35: Bus 2

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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~]

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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?"

"Oh no... don't worry about me," Sheena replied. "It's just a little... lonely being so disconnected. I've gotten used to feeling them there all the time."

"I see," Archer replied as his eyes slowly trailed off. It was certainly quiet without Gaia sending him the kill order, but he'd burn in hell before he ever said he was lonely without her. "It is lonely getting disconnected from something that's been right next to you for so long."

He didn't want to tell Sheena it would be okay in the long run, because that would be a blatant lie. Pre-cognition wasn't one of his specialties.

"It's not just next to me, but they..." Sheena searched for the right words. "It's like they envelope my existence. I can hear them and talk to them... except Volt... and they give me a connection to mana like I'd never had before."

She shrugged. "I'll be okay. Raine says I didn't break my pacts and I have them all in the future where she's from. I just have to be patient." Which wasn't one of her strengths.

Luckily, it looked like someone had done the work for him. Archer could certainly appreciate the connection Sheena was referring to, having shared a similar bond with Rin in the past.

"As long as your alive, there's the possibility you'll see them again." Archer didn't mention that Raine could have been talking about an alternate version. The heroic spirit was intimately familiar with alternate dimensions and time lines, but there was no reason to tell her that. "So you know Raine?"

"As long as I hold to my oaths I'll see them again; just being alive isn't enough," Sheena stated. She then smiled. "Yeah... Raine's a friend of mine. We're from the same place. There are a couple others from my worlds here, too."

Archer seemed familiar with Raine. Interesting. "Do you know her?"

"Certainly." It was good that she had the passion, the drive; nothing good could be accomplished with half-hearted sentiments.

Talk of people from their own worlds reminded him of Saber, and the fact that she was gone. Reinforce was gone as well, and Hisoka had been taken. He glanced away, allowing a soft, sad look to pass over his eyes. When he turned back to Sheena, it was gone.

"Yes. I've talked to her a few times, and we've exchanged some ideas about her clinic group," Archer answered.

"Ah." Sheena tilted her head a little. "So what do you think of her? The Professor is kind of an acquired taste."

"Yeah, she is," he chuckled. "But she seems like a good, decent person."

There was the issue with the ears, but Archer didn't know if he should mention it, so he remained silent.

"As long as she doesn't see you as a possible research subject, she is a good decent person, aside from her cold-hearted bitch moments," the summoner said lightly with a grin. "Otherwise, you better run for the hills. If you ever see that overwhelming crazy kinda glint in her eyes... back away slowly and be prepared to escape."

She nodded sagely. "She can be scary when she gets really focused on something."

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