Night 43: Grand Ballroom

[gald_digger]

[from here]

As Anise neared the bottom of the stairs, she could hear water running. There was also light coming from the room, which was a welcome sight. Once they were close enough to that light that the others wouldn't need her flashlight anymore, Anise eagerly ran ahead into the room.

"Wooow!"

The girl's voice echoed through the large, empty ballroom. It was far grander than she ever imagined. There were fountains flowing, and candles glowing, and a shiny marble floor that reflected the flickering lights beautifully. It didn't look anything like the dreary, scummy institute halls she was used to. "It's like we're in a whole other building!"

Comments

[godforsaken]

Unfortunately for Anise, it didn't take long for Sync to put the puzzle pieces together, rubbing his chin in thought while he spoke to Dahlia.

"My guess is that each room in these halls have some kind of key. Since there's only two indentations..."

Even now Sync's gaze trailed over to the other side of the ballroom, stopping at a door identical to the ones they've stepped through.

"Let's check out the other hallway," he began as he glanced back over at the other two. "We can probably put something on the floor to keep the first door open and scout the other rooms. If it's too dangerous then we can just go back."

Sync had to wonder if there were also two paths they could take within the west hall. Maybe it'd be in their best interest to choose something different this time...

[dahliahasthorns.livejournal.com]

What was Annie doing, acting all innocent? Did she know something? Dahlia would have narrowed her eyes at her, but hell, she didn't care right now. She was still recuperating from having lost ten pounds in fifteen minutes, one hand slipping into the fountain's nice, not-frozen water to calm her frayed nerves.

She was getting out of here. Prison was annoying, and so was a noose, but they weren't this. They weren't two-faced little boys dragging her into deathtraps at one in the morning. They weren't undead zombies trying to eat her. She'd get out of here and she'd get out of prison, and she would dodge these bullets like she did all the others. They weren't going to stop Dahlia Hawthorne. Anyone who did didn't have long to revel in that victory.

Unless, of course, she was already dead and this was her punishment for being so naughty when she was alive. But who ever believed that, hm? Not her.

Though, that did remind her how she was still bleeding. Unfortunately, she didn't have either the conveniently placed tear or muscle strength at the moment to rip her shirt open, so she just pulled herself together and slowly made her way to Anise, pout in full-force.

"I... I'm sorry, Annie, but." She looked down, like it was embarrassing to be asking for help after all they went through. Oh, poor, powerless Dahlia! How did she ever get roped into this?! "Can you help me bandage these?" It was going to be hard to bandage up her back, but she'd manage if they couldn't. She was a big girl.

Sync, on the other hand, was not. Really, Sync? Must you be an overachiever? "So soon?" she sputtered out, eyes wide and shocked at the notion that they had to go at risk again. "Shouldn't we rest for the night?"

[gald_digger]

Dahlia's request got Anise looking over at her with a brief hesitation, then a nod. "Oh, sure. I should get my stuff back, too." Actually, she kind of just wanted to stay sitting on the floor for the rest of the night. As she stood up, Anise felt her body aching here and there. It was a pain, but she couldn't exactly refuse someone asking for her wounds to get tended to.

When she reached Dahlia, she looked over the wounds carefully. Some were too deep to get away with just cleaning and leaving as is. She needed bandages, and she couldn't quite bring herself to ask someone like Dahlia to start taking off her clothes, so instead she pulled the meat tenderizer out of the bag, taking it back. "Wait here a minute." The girl walked to the other side of the fountain, out of Sync's sight, then removed her pants, laying them on the floor. Dragging the sharp corner of the mallet across them, she was able to weaken the fabric enough to tear somewhat neatly. When she returned, her pants had been converted to shorts, and she was carrying four long strips of cloth.

Always the knight, never the princess. How come she always wound up doing the chivalrous stuff like this?

She used the strips to bandage the worst-looking of the wounds, tying one around one side of Dahlia's neck and under her arm to cover a bit of her back. The others went to shoulder and arm wounds. "There, that should help," she announced when she was finished.

"Dahlia's right," she said to Sync once she was finished tending to the girl. "The only thing we should be doing is..." Anise stopped as the intercom came on yet again, leaving them with even more confusing messages (The radio man? Was he alive?) and even louder screams. When it finished, Anise didn't continue where she had been interrupted, feeling too distracted and disturbed by the agony in those voices.

[godforsaken]

Sync didn't say much as he allowed Anise to tend to Dahlia's wounds. Any bystander would've called the God-General 'heartless' for trying to push both girls so soon after their last dance with death, but the God-General knew better than to give into their 'whining'. After all, he knew what they both were capable of, so letting them off for the rest of the night would just be a waste.

Still, he couldn't just go out and say that. His eyes narrowed somewhat when the intercom went off, but these strange messages had appeared so often that he was desensitized by them now. There were more important matters.

"I know you guys are tired, but what we went through could very well be the worst this basement's going to dish out at us." Really, there wasn't much worse they could do than a room filled with lava, and in the end everyone's injuries were only skin deep at most. He doubted his burn would last more than two days.

"And besides..."

He flashed them both a smirk before laughing.

"After what happened last night this is just a cakewalk. Right?"

Sync knew he didn't have to elaborate, and so he walked over to the pair and pulled his possessions out from Dahlia's bag.

"I'll give you guys 10 minutes. After that let's go."

[To here.]