damned_institute | Night 41: M01-10 Hallway

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Night 41: M01-10 Hallway

[in M7]

Hanatarou had managed to choke down about half of his dinner before finally giving up and pushing the tray away. With a glance back at Sora to make sure his roommate wasn't looking, he'd opened the closet door to get his uniform and started to change; he thought that if he was going to act like a healer he could at least look like one. Right?

He was just settling his pack in place when the intercom went off, and he gave a startled glance back toward the speaker. The announcement was creepy and disturbing as usual, but considering that he was already a bundle of nerves as it was...well, there wasn't really a visible impact on him. There were supposed to be two people - two strangers - coming by to be healed, and he hoped that he'd be able to help them.

The healer paused for a moment, staring blankly at the imitation Hisagomaru in the corner of the closet before finally deciding to leave it there for the time being. He'd have to see how he felt after trying to heal two people before deciding what he was going to do next.

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"Yes...the final Phase was Corbenik. But... an Avatar controlled by someone with that level of power? That's a truly frightening thought." A thought that couldn't go ignored once they made it back to their real bodies and back to the game proper, not with that added to what Haseo had said about Ovan over breakfast.

"I see..." Endrance hummed thoughtfully. Yes, he remembered seeing Kuhn's team go up the arena rankings. Interesting, then, that they both had Avatars, too... So everyone was...no, not looking out for me, but ready to take me down. They had been good, and it was again, something of a comfort that it would have happened anyway, but that didn't change the fact that he was still glad Haseo had been the one to take away that infection. "I'm still glad it was you," he added, flashing a brief smile. "It did hurt, but...it also brought about what happened afterward, when you came to find me."

What happened between that time and the time Haseo's from? What does he mean that I did something stupid? I...can't think of what I would have done, and it seems a few other pieces are missing from the puzzle...

Endrance shook his head. "I honestly don't remember anything after leaving Indieglut Lugh, Haseo...what happened?"

Edited 2009-06-02 18:37 (UTC)

We already beat Ovan once, Haseo thought, but that clearly wasn't enough....

Haseo shook his head at the request for an explanation, holding his hands up in a shrug. "You won't believe it," he said flatly. He also didn't really want to go through it, but now that mention had been made, it wasn't like he really had any choice. He shifted his weight again and stared at the ceiling in thought, as if he wished it would tell the story instead.

"Like I said before, Sakaki became obsessed with getting revenge. He blackmailed us into participating in his twisted Arena game and we..." Haseo suddenly paused and blinked, remembering that Endrance hadn't seen the Serpent of Lore.

"...Do you even know what G.U. is? The guildmaster Yata, and Pi, are System Administrators, and Kuhn works with them investigating and fighting AIDA. They have this... thing called the Serpent of Lore at the @Home that lets you watch pretty much everything going on in 'The World.'

"When CC Corp let Sakaki take that over, Pi altered our characters so that we could meet outside the normal areas of 'The World.' But after a while... you and Saku stopped showing up. ...And then you said that you were going off on your own."

"I was going to ask that, too..." It didn't particularly matter one way -- no. It did matter, because it was something that would clearly become important. This 'Serpent of Lore' sounded eerily like what Lios had used to check on Kite's group's doings in R:1. It wasn't surprising that only System Administrators had access to a tool like that, but in the wrong hands...

"I see," he said. "So, then, in a way, the Epitaphs were coming together...how funny, that the past and the future both take the same path, with the Phases being the keys to The World. It's almost as if it's a rare, thorned flower that blooms once every seven years. The seed waits for the right light in order to grow...and it's nurtured by The World itself."

Endrance blinked at Haseo once he said that Sakaki had taken over the Serpent of Lore. "In those hands...the only choice would be to change..." That last sentence, though, completely derailed his train of thought. His eyes opened wide with shock, and he gasped loudly.

"What? Why would I do such a thing? Was I reinfected by AIDA? I...I wouldn't intentionally leave your side, Haseo..." Especially not with that girl...

Edited 2009-06-02 19:54 (UTC)

"Calm down... it's not like that." Haseo closed his eyes in irritation, taking a deep breath. Told you it was hard to believe, came the unbidden thought. He went quiet again- Endrance revealing the ruse himself had just happened before Haseo had woken up in an institution bed, and so far he had had little chance to turn the incident over in his head himself. So while a better story-teller may have saved what had really happened until the end, Haseo jumped straight to the point.

"You would," he said, "You pretended like you were betraying us, and Saku followed your lead. Whatever you did must have been convincing enough to fool Sakaki... the next time I was in the Arena, against Antares, he..." Haseo rubbed the back of his neck, trying not to get too pissed off at the memory, but regardless his voice became more stressed as he went on.

"Sakaki accused me of cheating and Antares of throwing our match. He showed everyone footage of Skeith in the Arena that he'd gotten from the Serpent of Lore, and then he tried to disqualify me."

Once more Haseo sighed and held up a hand. "Sakaki thought he was being really funny. He put you and Saku on Emperor Taihaku's team, but didn't suspect..." Haseo paused again, sorting the details out. "While we were trying to get close to Sakaki by rising through the ranks, I guess your technique was different...."

"W-what, I..." Endrance shook his head vehemently, the shock clearly written all over his face. "I... No. I wouldn't have done that willingly...there's no way I..." The words went flying out, and there wasn't any stopping them. It wasn't a lie. That wasn't Haseo's way of doing things. Normally, he might have appreciated that frankness, but right now it was just a little too much.

"But...I..." There weren't words for the emotions he was feeling right now. Endrance could imagine the look on Haseo's face the moment that had been revealed, how much of a shock it had to have been. That was enough to make his stomach twist and almost bring tears to his eyes. "If we were to leave right now and not remember...but, I'd want to remember so as to change things, because there has to be something else, some other way..."

There couldn't be. If that's how far I went, that means there was no other choice...but to think I would practically do the same thing all over again, go to the enemy like that...it's all weakness, all my fault that I couldn't find another way of doing so.

He opened his mouth to try and apologize properly, but the words wouldn't come. There weren't words enough, and he shook his head again. "I...I'm..."

"H-hey!" Haseo said, entirely taken back by Endrance's reaction. He couldn't help but stare, kicking himself mentally for clearly saying too much too soon. Then, without really thinking, he stepped close to where Endrance was seated, grabbing him by the shoulders roughly. "Listen... geez... you've already apologized!" he insisted, staring down at the man. "Cut it out!"

Haseo wasn't sure what else there was to do- asking Endrance to just forget he'd said anything was just stupid. After a moment he relinquished his grip with one hand, but kept the other in place in an attempt to keep the Blade Brandier's attention.

"Listen to me, okay? I don't even know what would have happened if it had gone any other way. Didn't I say it turned out alright in the end?!"

Haseo sighed again, then went on quickly. "Even though it wasn't what Sakaki planned, Taihaku insisting on fighting me anyway. You weren't involved because Taihaku wanted to go at it alone. Me and Kuhn and Atoli defeated him, but... the AIDA that was with him tried to infect me instead."

And now he was just trying to get to the end, admit what had happened, and try to move on, even if the whole event had nearly destroyed... several of the people tangled up in the mess. "It... didn't work, but then that fucktard Sakaki attacked me personally." Haseo blinked, his brows knitted together. "But he didn't expect you to stab him in the back. Literally."

Endrance did as asked and listened, but was still unable to bring his eyes up to meet Haseo's until the very end of the story. So that was what I was thinking the entire time...I see. So it had to be that way, because it's the only way I'd have been detached enough to follow through. And if I'd said anything before, it wouldn't have worked...so...

He was silent for a long moment after that, and didn't realize he'd hugged Haseo again until after it had happened. "I'm glad you're still all right...", came the quiet reply. "I... I don't think I could forgive myself if you hadn't been." The thought that if it hadn't ended well, the Adept Rogue would never have told the story never occurred to him.

Endrance let go of Haseo then, pushing the chair back so he could stand up. "With that said...what did you have in mind for trying to find out how we're getting back?"

.... Endrance had grabbed hold of him. Again. Haseo stiffened, again, sputtering. Was that seriously necessary? It was weird anyway, but it just got all kinds of weirder when this wasn't 'The World.'

Even after he'd been freed, he let out several agitated breaths, backing off to what he deemed a relatively safe distance. And yeah, he'd said that Endrance's actions were for the best, but he could think of numerous reasons why they could have still gone horribly wrong. It was so far off from being the right time to continue that, however, that even Haseo found the idea utterly distasteful and he let it go gladly along with the change in subject.

"I don't know," he admitted, reluctantly, that familiar irritation coloring his words. He let that hang in the air, hands on hips, then, "I guess all we can do is to try and investigate and hope something comes up." That's pretty much how it's always been, anyway.

"For one, if Tsukasa can heal, or cast spells... I don't really care about anything else at this point aside from if he can be trusted or not...." He glanced up, looking for confirmation, but then paused again, another realization just beginning to occur to him.

"Uh... Endrance, did you tell Tsukasa one of our room numbers?"

"All right," Endrance nodded, stepping towards the door. "And about Tsukasa...I don't think you need to worry about being able to trust him. Mia didn't warm completely to most people. The fact that she did to him...I know it doesn't mean the same thing to you, but it means a lot to me," he went on to explain. "Also, his R:1 class was the Wavemaster class - which means he should still have some magic ability, even if it's less than usual."

He put his hand on the doorknob and had just begun to twist it when he stopped and winced at that last question. "We got so caught up in reminiscing that I completely forgot to tell him mine, and I didn't know yours until we passed each other on the way back. But...I think I saw him heading this way, so it's entirely possible that he caught your signal to me. It's worth a shot," he said, nodding once then stepping outside.

[jumping down to here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/629437.html?view=53616573#t53616573)]

Edited 2009-06-03 19:42 (UTC)

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Night 41: M01-10 Hallway

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