damned_institute | Day 43: Chapel

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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]

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Someone had decided to take pity on Kibitoshin, because finally the night was over! While this had the unfortunate downside of stopping him from catching the other two's names it was a small price to pay for being taken away from those rotting, unstoppable creatures, with their tearing hands and their gaping, gashed mouths and their bloated faces, and...

He shivered. Suddenly eating didn't seem all that appealing.

The best thing he could do for himself now, he decided eventually, was give himself something to take his mind off of everything that had happened. Placing the usual notice to check on everyone he knew, he let his nurse take him somewhere new: the chapel? Wasn't that some kind of Earthian religious thing? Now was his chance to find out.

Kibitoshin stepped into the room gingerly, as though even the sound of his steps could rip straight through the floorboards. The room was all marble engravings and intricate gilded edges, and overhead he could see an organ just waiting to be played. None of it furthered his understanding of what the room was actually for at all. Maybe it was just somewhere to be quiet?

Footsteps light, he slipped around the back of one of the pews and stood at what he hoped was a respectful from a blonde woman, who, strangely enough, didn't seem to be all that interested in doing whatever it was you were supposed to do in here. That didn't mean she wasn't busy, of course. Kibitoshin gave her a hopeful, apologetic smile. "Is it okay if I stand here?"

Silver eyes flickered over to look at the man that had stopped by her, his voice drawing her from her thoughts and observations of the room.

"I have no objection," she replied.

If the man was expecting further conversation from her, he would have to wait as she picked up on the presence of another hybrid nearby. It wasn't a youki signature she recognized, though there was something about it of great interest to the Number One. Leaning back against the wall, Teresa's eyes flickered to the blonde woman with the short, somewhat shaggy hair and a matching set of silver eyes walk into the room. That was all the visual she needed, so Teresa no longer looked in the other hybrid's direction.

A faint smile touched her lips. I'll have to keep an eye on her.

"Thank... you?" Kibitoshin trailed off as the her gaze flitted distractedly across the room and towards another, younger woman who had just arrived. Not only that, but she was smiling too- not necessarily at the other woman, but something about her presence had clearly pleased her in some way. But if they knew each other, why didn't she just go over and introduce herself?

Kibitoshin! You're staring! Cheeks colouring slightly he forced himself to find something else to watch. When he'd decided to find something else to occupy him, that hadn't meant sticking his nose into other people's business. Especially not when he still had the puzzle of the chapel to solve.

He could always ask the woman. Even if she didn't know it would at least have been interesting to gauge a few opinions. But she seemed so calm, so composed; it was difficult to think that someone with her confidence had just stumbled into here by accident. Like he had. "Um... I'm sorry if I'm interrupting you, but do you know what this place is for?"

It was only after the words left his lips that Kibitoshin even realised how ridiculous he sounded. Great.

The silver eyes slid over to regard the man. Nervous, wasn't he? A pathetic excuse for a human. Then again, most humans were rather pathetic to her. She momentarily was tempted to scare this one, but decided with the other hybrid in there, she wouldn't. There was no need to cause undo confrontation at this point; it would only end badly for the other one.

"Are you referring to this particular room or the building as a whole?"

Kibitoshin resisted the urge to duck his head under the force of her eyes, giving himself a stern reminder that he was the guardian of the universe and therefore above getting too jumpy. Casual the look may have been, but there was something oddly intimidating about her. "This room," he clarified. "I've never really been to Earth before, so I'm not really sure what all this is about."

He stopped. Was that really his attempt to sound more normal? He hoped not. Swiftly, he stuck out a hand in the vain hope that the situation was salvageable. "I'm sorry, I didn't introduce myself. My name's Kibitoshin."

What an odd name.

"Teresa," she replied in way of introductions. "This room is a human location dedicated to the worship of gods they believe can protect them," she explained. "There are many gods human focus on, but I am unsure as to which one this sanctuary is dedicated to. I am only familiar with a handful of those the humans worship." She was named after one of the Twin Goddesses, but there always had been small offshoots of other divine following.

Teresa's explanation was more perplexing than he had been expecting. While it made sense, it left one very important question hanging: if he was his own universe's equivalent of a god, why had he never been aware of any worshipping? Oh, no. What if he'd somehow managed to block it all out? He didn't want to seem like he was trying to ignore people, but-

The Kaioshin dragged himself back to reality. The odds that Teresa could explain that little quandary to him were nonexistent. "Really? I see! Thank you!" He nodded, glanced back around the chapel again, then tilted his head at her curiously. "Did you come here for that?"

A single eyebrow rose briefly.

"No," she replied. "Gods and religion are human institutions that do no longer apply to me. I am here simply because this is where the female led me to."

She paused. "Why are you here?"

No longer apply to...? Oh. Well, that made sense, he guessed. But wouldn't that mean that Teresa wasn't human? Kibitoshin peered at her for a moment, searching for he didn't know what- scales, maybe, or claws? - before remembering that most everyone here looked human, regardless of what they were. Perhaps the tiniest glimpse of a point to ears almost entirely hidden by thick blonde hair would have suggested otherwise, but she seemed to fit the trend.

"Me? I guess I was just curious. I've only been here a few days, so I've not really seen much of the place." Especially not when his very first night had gone so disastrously wrong, and then last night... hopefully, third time would be the charm.

Ah, so he had been around a bit. Not that Teresa thought Kibitoshin would be a fount of information like that post on the board, but hearing it from someone in person as opposed to reading...

"Ah. What do you think this place is? Any advice you may have for me? I only appeared last night."

"Oh! You're new?" Kibitoshin's eyes widened in surprise. "I'm so sorry! I didn't even... I mean... I'm sorry you have to be here too."

Her questions were good ones, but not the kind of things he was really equipped to answer. Conspiracy theories were beyond him, and frankly he was the one in need of advice. Still, the least he could do was share his own experiences so far.

"Advice...? Well, some of the monsters at night... they're not just monsters. They're from other worlds like all the patients are, but they work for the Institute. If you ever run into something like that, run." Unconsciously, his hand had moved to his shoulder and to the knife wound he'd received two nights before. A cold shiver rippled through him. "I mean it. They're insanely strong."

"Don't be," the hybrid replied. "I have to be somewhere. This is just not the ideal place to be."

Teresa listened and nodded, that faint smile touching her lips again. Perhaps she'd meet some old acquaintances. Still, insanely strong, or some variation thereof, was a term she was used to hearing in reference to herself. It made her curious, to say the least.

"Is that so? In all my years of service, I have never run from a battle. In fact, I've never felt the desire to," she replied with an underlying arrogance. "I don't intend on starting the habit now." Once a coward, always a coward.

There it was again, that confidence he'd felt from her earlier. Teresa genuinely didn't seem even a little phased at the prospect of running into her own nocturnal demons. Was she another one of those types who enjoyed a challenge, or was she really as strong as she seemed to be making herself out to be? Kibitoshin would have been willing to believe either.

Nonetheless, he persisted. "Maybe not normally, but while you're here you have your powers weakened. You wouldn't be a match for one of them, not alone." Wait a second. Did that come out wrong? He flushed, as if suddenly hearing himself for the first time. "N-not that I'm saying you're weak! Not at all! I bet you're really powerful! But... but... well, you just need to be careful."

The smile almost turned into a sneer as she turned more toward Kibitoshin. How... amusing that he believed her to be unfit. Perhaps he was the weak one. Then again, he was only human.

"I am accustomed to fighting without utilizing my youki." An understatement if there ever was one. Teresa had only ever felt the need to release her youki once a year, if only to remind herself that she hadn't forgotten how to do so. "I am no whelp that rushes foolhardy into battles. They did not make me Number One for my looks."

Kibitoshin couldn't help but give a hurt look at her response. There was just no pleasing some people!

"I didn't say you were," he answered ruefully, "I just said that you might be at a disadvantage." Nevertheless, all the rue in the world couldn't have stopped him from dropping his gaze into his lap as quickly as possible. Maybe he was overreacting. Just because he hadn't been able to handle one little terrifying doll-monster that didn't mean she couldn't. He wasn't exactly the greatest of-

N-no! Stop right there! It was that kind of thinking that let Franziska walk all over him, and he'd promised her he'd try harder! In the end, though, he just shrugged. "Better safe than sorry. It's really dangerous out there."

"I am aware of that," Teresa replied. Her educed speed in regards to the bats the previous night had told her that much. Still, she was certain she was far more capable than a mere human.

She then gave a bit of a chuckle. "It's dangerous everywhere, Kibitoshin. Is it not where you are from?"

So maybe she was that strong. Kibitoshin hoped so; even if she had been a little rude, that didn't mean she deserved to get hurt. The chuckle caught him off guard, throwing him out of sorts for the question. Come to think of it, she had a point. Even Kaioshinkai, the one place he thought would be safe- it was in another dimension, for heaven's sake!- had been attacked not once but twice.

"I guess not," he admitted, "though I'm just used to being able to defend myself properly." And used to being defended full stop. It was all he could do to stop himself turning scarlet from the embarrassment of it all.

"And you cannot now?" Teresa was genuinely curious. Sure, humans were worthless against youma (or they wouldn't have created her kind in the first place) but even a human could raise a sword and make a reasonable attempt not to cut his own foot off.

"What was your occupation? Even the lowest of humans can fight when cornered."

"Not really. I can still fight, but that's not much good when the thing you're trying to punch can just bite your hand off, or stab you, or-" Urgh. Maybe he shouldn't have been so... colourful with that. A distraction was in order.

Very quickly indeed, he said, "I'm not human- I'm a Kaioshin. The guardian of the universe, actually." He sighed quietly, shoulders sagging. Not that the role meant much; 'passenger' was too light a term for it, and even though he wanted to do more... "What about you, if you don't mind saying? Earlier, you sort of implied you weren't human either."

Not human... Teresa's silver eyes narrowed as she focused on her senses, but she didn't pick up any demonic energy coming off of Kibitoshin. The expression eased some. The concept of a 'guardian of the universe' was very foreign to her. Was he implying he was one of the silly gods humans clung to?

"I am only half human," Teresa replied. "The other half of me is youma - a demonic being that hunts and feasts on human flesh." That faint smile slipped onto her face once again. "I was created to exterminate the youma and was ranked Number One."

She was silent for a moment. "Are you claiming to be a god?"

Half human, half flesh-eating monster?! Kibitoshin stared at her, bewilderment written all over his face in block capitals. But she looked so normal! Pretty, too! How could she possibly be...? Realising he was probably staring again, he shook himself out of his surprise and managed a polite nod. "I... see. No wonder you're so confident."

As for himself... well. He only wished. "Me? A god? The job description's kind of the same- I keep an eye on everything- but I'm not what you'd call a god. Actually, I'm still in training."

Though Kibitoshin was staring at her, this was something Teresa was used to. The little god-man lacked the fear in his eyes that typically accompanied that revelation, but the hybrid wasn't going to split hairs over it.

"No, you don't see," she replied calmly. She then gave a soft snort. Training? "So, you are still a whelp. No wonder you cannot fight."

The wounded expression returned en force at Teresa's snort, albeit with a little more strength behind it.

"I'm not a 'whelp'." Well... strictly speaking he was barely out of childhood by any Kaioshin's standards, but in human terms surely he wasn't that young, was he? "And I can fight, I just never learned the complicated parts before-- well, before my training stopped. Besides," he added, suddenly feeling braver, "I'd bet anything I'm older than you."

"Age means nothing," Teresa replied, "and power does not come with it." Priscilla and herself were evidence to that very fact.

"And if you are still in training, you are a whelp," she repeated. Her smile turned a bit arrogant, as if she was enjoying the sudden show of bravery. "Fighting to defend yourself is not complicated. Fighting to kill is complicated." Unless you were Teresa of the Faint Smile,. but she wasn't going to point that out.

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Day 43: Chapel

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