Day 43: Chapel

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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]

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[falseblack]

If Nigredo had any say, he would have continued--black-visioned and unaware--clear through to next week. The conscious world did not seem all too concerned with his presence; time wouldn't be missed, in the end. They, however, felt differently, as evident by the soft hand at his back.

"Nigel? Nigel? Wake up, dear," its owner urged gently. There was a soft intake of breath. "We shouldn't have given him that strong of a dose."

"I'm sorry," another spoke up, before mumbling something inaudible. As if she realized he was listening in. "...mg was enough. It worked with..."

The one whose hand he felt clucked her tongue. "He must be sensitive. Cut the dosage in half next time-- Nigel, dear." The hand shook. "Please wake up."

Nigredo lifted an eyelid, only to clamp it shut immediately. The light forced an increasingly sharp sensation against his sinus, signs of a migraine in full swing. "My head hurts," he whimpered, feeling bad for both his excuse and the part in question.

Eventually, the child stabilized long enough to be escorted out. Of the three choices, they opted to leave him in an area of the institute called the "chapel", where the lack of sun and harsh noises should prove more beneficial than not. Nigredo, who held no opinion, gave no objections and was simply content to lean into the ice pack one of them held out to him. His nerves still crackled almost audibly while his blood rushed in between breaths, but as long as they didn't require him to do much of anything, he should be all right.

Ideally, that is.

[Closed to Sakura.]

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Sakura jolted into a sitting position in her bed as sounds outside her room indicated dawn had arrived. Waking up was probably one of the oddest sensations to get used to at Landel’s, and since she had only experienced it once before at the institute, Sakura felt particularly disoriented this morning. “Huh?” she vocalized to herself, gazing around the room in a daze. Yet, it didn’t take long for her to remember what happened. Her memory returned in flashes – Doyleton, horses, Fai, zombies, Yue injured, zombies bursting in, scream of terror as they were about to be overwhelmed. That was where her memory stopped, but merely those images were enough to send her heart racing once more. It seems they were lucky that the night ended there.

Suddenly, a knock on the door caused Sakura to jump in terror once more. “Eri? Are you awake?” a nurse’s voice asked from behind the door.

The young girl gave a sigh of relief and responded, “Yes! I’ll be out in a second!”

Tossing her blankets off, she rushed over to the closet to put on the ugly institute uniform once more. She quickly fixed her hair and the room before running and opening the door. The nurse who she had talked with was simply smiling and ruffled her hair once the door opened.

“I know where the cafeteria is,” Sakura told the nurse with a nod.

“Don’t you want to visit the chapel though? It’s Sunday!” the nurse smiled, taking her hand.

“O-Oh… sure…” Sakura responded unnecessarily, as the nurse was already leading her down the hallway and up the stairs.

Once they had reached the chapel doors, the nurse looked down and began explaining once more, “After you’re done, you can head back downstairs to the cafeteria to eat.” She paused to tap Sakura on the nose. “Have fun!” And with that, the nurse left her without even looking back.

Walking slowly inward, a young boy accompanied by a nurse ice packing his eyes caught her eye. Once she had reached conversation range, she asked, “Umm… are you okay?”

[falseblack]

The newcomer's voice proved a little grating for his senses, and Nigredo winced against the ice. He felt bad as well; she was only inquiring on his condition. Fortunately, the nurse saw the wisdom in answering in his stead. "He's okay," came her explanation. "He just had a little accident."

His gut feeling told him she was completely, utterly wrong in the matter, but he did not have the strength to refute the claim. "Thank you for your concern, though," said Nigredo to the unseen girl. "I..." He twitched uncomfortably. "...appreciate it."

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"Anyone would be worried," she answered, sitting down next to him. In her mind, she already had theories which she could verify by asking, but she couldn't ask with the nurse there, for they would immediately be dismissed as silly childhood nightmares.

She waited, swinging her legs, until the nurse looked away at another patient before leaning in toward his ear. "Did you get attacked by zombies too?" Sakura asked in a whisper.

[falseblack]

He supposed she had a point in anyone being worried. This sort of treatment was not exactly typical. "Probably." Nigredo offered his best polite face, though it came out stiff due the ice. It was the least he could do for being unable to converse with her eye-to-eye, even if he expected the girl to move on not long after his reply.

To his great surprise, she did not, choosing instead to sit beside him. Furthermore, her question took him completely aback, for reasons he couldn't name. Only a trigger and a memory. Something heavy against the nape of his neck. The boy fidgeted once more. "Kind of," he answered solemnly. Half of that was true. "They took me by surprise."

There was a pause. "What about you? Are you okay?"

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The young girl pulled back as she listened to his response. He was a strange kid. He didn't seem much older than she was, yet his tone seemed to carry a maturity and seriousness beyond his age, almost as if he had seen things that no child should see. Then again, she was now in that sort of situation. Would she change too? It was only day three, but how much would she change a week or a month from now?

"Yeah, I'm okay," Sakura responded, looking downward in thought. "I was able to find my brother and his friend before it got too bad. I think it took everyone by surprise though." She stole a glance back at the boy, who was still icing his eyes. Even though it looked like he couldn't see, she still felt awkward staring at someone with an injury and did her best to avoid giving off the idea that she was simply gawking.

[falseblack]

Brother produced an odd pressure at the back of his throat, much like bile rising to the tip of his tongue. In that instant, he remembered everything, from the morning's unabashed guilt to the afternoon's contained fear. Too much range, not enough time. Not appropriate either, given the girl next to him.

And Nigredo attempted to ignore it all. She probably wouldn't appreciate the cynical take on her comment. "Glad to hear it." A strain tightened across his lips. "I was with my brothers, too." Who were unaccounted for in the variant's mind. They should, however, be all right, if their history of resilience meant anything.

He trailed off suddenly before speaking again. "I'm Nigredo."

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Sakura looked at Nigredo with a tilt of the head before looking away in thought. Despite Nigredo trying to hide it, the young girl was still able to notice a change in the boy's demeanor following her last remark. She wasn't sure exactly what she had said to set it off, but she made a mental note to try and be more careful nonetheless.

Once Nigredo had introduced himself, Sakura turned back to him and smiled. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Sakura." Even if he couldn't see her, it only seemed natural for Sakura to smile back. She hadn't met anyone her age except the red-haired boy two days ago, so this meeting brought her a new sense of comfort, particularly because she could see she wasn't alone.

"Have you been here for a while?" she asked, hoping to continue the conversation.

[falseblack]

Sakura? Sakura. A miraculously cruel coincidence, but Nigredo wasn't sure. He could not dismiss the possibility in this setting, even if... The child pulled his forehead an inch away from the ice pack.

And promptly slumped back as fragments akin to glass filled the entirety of his sinuses. Nigredo fidgeted and sighed in defeat. This was apparently fate's way of telling him she wasn't the same. "Nice to meet you, too," he muttered instead. Hopefully, Sakura remained oblivious to that hesitation.

"Not long," he continued, secretly glad for the subject change. "Only a few days. How about you?"

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As Nigredo tried to move away from the ice pack and returned in pain, Sakura extended her arms out in an attempt to help Nigredo reposition himself by the ice pack. "Are you okay? You shouldn't try and move too much in your state," she said by reflex in her sweet, caring voice.

She waited until Nigredo had resettled before continuing the conversation. "I just arrived two days ago on Friday," she answered, looking away in thought. "And so much has happened in those two days. I've never seen so many monsters and terrors before..." The nurse sitting on the other side of Nigredo frowned, causing Sakura to change the direction of the conversation. "But I'm sure we'll be all right."

[falseblack]

Sakura, much like the Sakura he once knew, was kind. This fact filled and stretched his chest with an odd form of unease. It was really too bad Nigredo couldn't spare a look, if only to confirm a separate identity. "Yeah, I'm fine," came the assurance. "Sorry if I'm worrying you."

A stretch of silence passed between them as Nigredo processed the girl's answer. He figured she had more to talk about on the matter, if not for the caretaker beside them. As usual, the boy went along with the hint. "Hopefully. At least it is peaceful in the daytime."