damned_institute | Day 43: Chapel

And just like that, the disorienting feeling of blacking out just to wake up in an unfamiliar bed came again. Alkaid had wondered if it would - everything about last night had been different, all the way from the zombies to the eerie emptiness of the Institute to the strange broadcast at the end of the night. Had the Head Doctor been shot? Damn, someone had gotten to it before her. And who was the voice at the end there? It was like she'd been allowed access to some kind of strange mystery that she could not understand, one that had been going on for a long time before she had arrived and would be going on for quite a while in the future, after she was gone. Had these strange sets of circumstances been bugs in this place's programming? Who could say?

The morning's intercom greeting was strange, as well. Federal training whatsit? It didn't seem like this happened very often, from the sound of it, but so much had happened since the last day she remembered that the former Demon Palace Emperor was ready to take pretty much anything at face value.

The room she woke up in was still empty. Wondering where to stick the half-cracked bat that she'd picked up last night, she shoved it under the mattress hastily when she heard footsteps in the hall.

The stupid nurse was the same as ever, though. Some things never changed. "Ahh, good morning, Eileen. It's so nice to see you awake."

Alkaid rolled her eyes at the nurse's chuckle, and shook her head. She didn't care that the NPC thought it was nice, she just wanted to see the rest of the institute already.. see what had changed! "Yeah, it's fantastic. Whatever! Just take me where I'm going and be done with it!"

It was just then that she realized that she was not wanting to devour the flesh of the nurse in front of her. And that the pain on her arm had kind of abated - she couldn't see through the thick bandages they had covered her arm with, but she wondered if her skin was still rotting off like a zombie. Had they somehow cured her infection overnight? Or was the nurse not human, like Alkaid had always thought?

There was only one thing for it: she had to go somewhere else.

"Chapel, sun room, or cafeteria, then?"

"Does it look like I care?"

The nurse sighed, then started walking Alkaid down the hall, up the stairs, and down another hall to the chapel. No one here yet, huh? That was weird. She couldn't imagine that no one else'd show up, but who could say? This place had been turned on its ass.

The chapel was empty so far, and kind of nondescript. She shooed the nurse away, and stood in the middle of the space between the pews, standing akimbo. What would happen today? What would she learn about herself... her situation? How long had she been sleeping? Was she really still going freaking undead, or had that been somehow taken care of?

All this would come to light really soon. She hoped. Geez, too many mysteries!!

[unwittingly awaiting Haseo]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

At times like these, Yuuhi really wished he knew what to say to make things better. Mokona always seemed to be so good at that, but the little puffball had been missing for weeks now. He tried though; for as scary as it was for him, for a child like Chise or Ururu, it had to be much, much worse.

"I'm sure you did your best," he told her, putting an arm around her shoulder and giving it a gentle squeeze before letting go. "I don't think anyone could have been ready for something like that. It was sudden and... well, I'm just glad to see that most everyone is alright."

A lie, of course. Chise was the only one he'd seen so far that was fine. What about the others? He should've gone to the cafeteria most likely, but after last night, even the smell of food was enough to make him a little queasy.

It wasn't that hard to cheer Chise up, the only words one would need to say were 'stupid!' or 'idiot!'. But Fai was a kind person and wouldn't ever call someone that(unless they were a certain bear).

"I know, but I wish I could do more. If only I was a bit stronger. There was this lady who knocked out all the zombies in the kitchen in a matter of seconds! She was really strong." The same could be said for Kurogane. "Mr. Kuro was with me and another boy last night. He really is a ninja! He managed to catch a knife that I threw at him when he asked for it. It was really cool."

"It sounds like you were with plenty of strong people, I'm sure it's ok," he assured her. "So don't worry, alright?"

Easy enough to say, though it was good to know she'd been with Kurogane and other people who could take care of her. It'd just been lucky that he'd been nearby Yue and Touya when he and Sakura had been caught up in the mess.

"We should probably write a note on the bulletin and make sure everyone is alright."

"Uh-huh, and you must have been with strong people as well because I don't see any injuries." And that was a good thing. Being a weapon meant that her wounds healed at a faster rate than a regular human, so it was okay if she was the one who got hurt. The little injury on her wrist was practically gone, but her nurse insisted that she should keep the bandages on for one more day.

"I bet everyone is worried. Also, I'm planning on putting up another bear picture for everyone to draw on! Maybe this time Mr. Kuro won't rip the drawings down. Plus there's lots of materials to use in the arts and crafts room to make them beautiful and cute." She couldn't wait to see what others would add on, especially Luffy.

"Nope, I'm fine," he assured her, holding out his arms and turning them just in case she didn't believe him. Exhausted yes, but there were few outward signs of that and he was certainly not the only one exhibiting them.

"You should give it a try, I'm sure people will enjoy it." Though he planned on sitting this round out. As fun as it could be teasing Kurogane, if a child was going to be injured because of it, he wasn't going to continue. "Lots of sparkles and paper and glue. Maybe you could make one out of felt and buttons too!"

"I hate to say it, but I think everyone is relieved to be back here, instead of staying outside at night. At least the monsters don't attack us in our rooms...I hope that it would never happen," she quickly added. So far there hasn't been any news about people being attacked inside their rooms, therefore it was safe to assume that staying inside your room was safer than walking outside.

"I may not be good at drawing, but at least I'm having fun doing it. No matter how small it is, I'm sure that someone would appreciate it(ie. her friends). This time I'll make one of you and Mr. Kuro. His will be so cool looking so that he won't tear it down. If he does, I'll just put up more pictures with his other name(Mr. Virgin)." She may be small, but she can be mean.

Chise had a point, but it was still a difficult line to walk. Staying in his room at night sounded more appealing by the day. Could he just ignore all that went on though? The things at night were so real, so terrifying, but they always woke in their best the next morning, as if it'd all been nothing but a nightmare. Except, of course, for the wounds they still managed to have from the night's dangers. It just... didn't make sense.

"I hope not too. It's nice to have at least one place that's safe," he replied, thinking the matter over. He hadn't put up a bulletin for Lost and Found. With how few responses there were, maybe it really was easier to just stay in at night.

"I know you'll come up with something really cute, whatever it is," he tried to smile a little wider to encourage her. If she wanted to tease the grumpy ninja, she could, but it might be best for him to stay out of it this time. Though, the thought of Kurogane being referred to, not as one of his adorable, obnoxious nicknames, but being toted as a virgin, well... he could just imagine Kurogane's angry face.

Day 43: Chapel

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject