Nightshift 38: West Wing, South Hall 1-B

[shallweplay.livejournal.com]

[From here]

Ophelia carefully opened the door, listening and looking around in both directions for any signs of monster activity. When she was satisfied that there was none that she could detect, she swung the door open and hurried down toward the main hall where more of the moonlight could be seen faintly. Once she got there, she knew she was definitely going to have to keep her guard up, considering that the main hall had been where the big monster from the previous night had been.

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[heraldric.livejournal.com]

So she was new. ...That meant she'd need explanations, which was of course what she'd ask for next. He supposed he shouldn't really be bothered by explaining things to a cute girl, though. Perhaps he could even ask her out while he was at it. Or was this not the time for doing things like that? He wasn't very good with girls, admittedly.

"I'm sorry," he said with a sigh. "That is pretty unfortunate. It sucks to be here, Miss Naoto." Leon glanced around the hall to see who else might be listening in. "It's dangerous to go out by yourself at night, for one. There's monsters everywhere after the lights go out. Everyone's abilities are weakened, too. I was just out looking for a few things myself, hoping to find them not too far away."

He gave her a weak little smile and shrugged his shoulders. "I've been here going on two weeks now, myself. No one knows how we're brought here, and no one knows how to get out, either. People do disappear, though, and..." some get killed. "W-well, you should probably just stay somewhere safe until morning."

[trapdetected.livejournal.com]

"Please, if you don't mind," Naoto began more forcibly than she intended, suddenly looking vaguely uncomfortable. "There's no need to call me 'miss'. Just my name will do." In an inconspicuous attempt to hide herself better in the darkness, Naoto tilted her flashlight a bit aways from herself.

There wasn't long to dwell on that, though, not when there was some surprising news that Naoto wasn't quite sure how to take in. "Monsters?" she echoed incredulously. Sure, she was familiar with things like the Shadows, but those only existed in the television world. Unless Leon was greatly exaggerating something, it wasn't possible anything like them would be dwelling here. "I understand there must be something out here that poses some sort of threat; what sort of 'monsters' do you mean?" Her initial thoughts were that maybe his imagination were getting the better of him-- he looked to be a few years younger than herself (and the thought of someone so young ending up here disgusted her), but when Naoto thought back to the announcement as soon as the lights had cut out... There was some sort of truth behind his words.

And two weeks. Two. It was almost a frightening amount of time, just one more surprise on top of the others. There was one big disappointment there, too, when he told her they didn't know how they got here nor how to get out. If there had been any person trapped for that long... Naoto was in for a bigger ride than she had ever anticipated. "I won't be doing any sitting around when there are far important matters to be looking into," Naoto said, her words firm. "Such as this. Doing such accomplishes nothing."

[heraldric.livejournal.com]

"O-okay." Had he offended her? He hadn't meant to. It might have been a sign of her wanting to be friends with him if she didn't seem so put off by it. Girls could be so easily offended by the most random of things. He'd never understand them.

Leon nodded when she asked about the monsters. "Just like I said. There's all sorts. Some of the other patients have been keeping track of them on the bulletin board. You can find that in the sun room, but I would definitely wait until daylight for that. The sun room is incredibly dangerous." He took a few minutes to think over what he'd seen during the time he was here. "You'll find a lot of giant versions of regular animals - rats, spiders, dogs... but there's worse than that. Apparently even the nurses turn into monsters during the night, but they don't seem to remember any of it the next day. The worst is when they take some of the patients themselves and turn them against the rest of us. This is one of those nights."

He looked at her pleadingly, then glanced down the hall again. "Please. You should be careful. People have... people have been getting killed a lot lately by wondering off on their own. I mean. I'm just getting some metal, then I'm going back to my room."

[trapdetected.livejournal.com]

How childish these 'monsters' sounded to be, Naoto wanted to think; it was as if he were reciting something straight out of an imaginative story. Even the creatures she were used to could never reach the real world... as far as she were aware. Those, however, couldn't have any relation to this-- at least not so suddenly, when there were no signs or warnings or any obvious threats beforehand.

And yet, his words sounded too genuine; it was easy to pick up on certain things about people, ones that hinted whether there was any truth or not behind words. It was something you needed to be able to do if you wanted to be a detective. That, or Leon believed his story enough to sound as much... He had been here for a long time, after all; was there something here horrific enough to affect his thinking? The limit for some was only so much, after all.

"I'll keep that in mind," Naoto said without falter, thinking on the various other bits of information he had dropped. "I assume this place, say... 'changes' between night and day, with the latter being safer." It would make the most sense, drawing back on the stories and the like. Especially if there were deaths involved-- then this just got much more serious. Trapping people against their will was bad enough, but putting their lives on stake was unforgivable.

"Then perhaps we can talk as we travel," Naoto suggested, waving a hand in the direction she thought Leon was heading in before. "I'm aware of the risks, but that's part of my job. As a detective, I must do what it takes to find all that I can and put this to a halt. So, as you can see, I cannot stay back and watch this continue."

[heraldric.livejournal.com]

"A detective?" Leon took her in again, now more interested. Had he read of others on the board in that occupation? He couldn't recall. She really did need to check them, though, as there were plenty others trying to solve the same problem. Her age didn't mean anything, of course, not when he himself was one of the top minds in the Kingdom of Lacour at the age of twelve. "All right..."

He could protect her, he supposed. He had at least two small spells in him before he'd need a breather. That might be enough to give them a chance to run away if they ran into something troublesome. "I... wasn't quite sure where to look, though. The kitchen isn't so far away, but the way there is dangerous. I'm not going outside for any longer than I can help it. I thought perhaps the greenhouse..."

The young mage began walking off toward the end of the hall, expecting Naoto to follow.