damned_institute | Nightshift 43: Room of Water

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Nightshift 43: Room of Water

[From here.]

The stark contrast was almost shocking as Sync stepped into the new room, and yet his face remained passive as he pulled the other two inside. Of course, acting composed was somewhat hard when a sudden blast of cold air washed through his entire body. In the end even the God-General couldn't suppress a shudder, but he tried to ignore the chill in order to further examine their new surroundings.

This room seemed to have a more complex layout than the other two. The entire area was covered in ice, thick walls reflecting their forms while large icicles hung from the ceiling. While it was a relief to be able to see their obstacles, Sync could only assume that some sort of compensation was made in order to make treading across even more difficult.

The teen slowly exhaled the breath he hadn't been aware he'd been holding, watching the cloudy trail snake out and mingle with the frigid air. By then the damp air of the last room had completely frozen over, drooping his hair and stiffening his clothes.

"I don't think you need me telling you that we need to get out of here as soon as possible." Once more his voice was barely above a whisper, keeping an eye on those icicles while speaking. They couldn't afford to linger for too long in such a cold environment, especially not in these outfits.

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Well, this would explain the cold. Not, however, the sudden noise coming from what she could only guess to be the intercom (why couldn't they hear it in the last room? That was stupid). Her skin grew cold and that chill on her neck slowly ran down her spine, but Dahlia was more sure that was because her clothes were now damp from the fog room and slowly but surely freezing on her.

Why thank you, Martin Landel. Thank you for making her feel like she was in a wet t-shirt contest. Thank you so much.

The creepy factor from what felt like being stared at was still really grating her nerves, but she stuck it out and tried to slide her way next to Sync.

And promptly slipped. Wow. Way to go, Dahlia.

When she tried to push herself up and gave a cursory glance to the reflective ice below her fingers, she could have sworn she saw the bloody, pale figure of Valerie Hawthorne standing behind her, eyes accusing and oh so empty as she stared down at her precious sister. No, that wasn't right.

That wasn't right!

She rolled over to face her dear step-sister head on, to yell at her, embarrass that back-stabbing idiot back into the grave she belonged in, but she wasn't there anymore. She...

Ha. Hahahahhaha! So that was their game? First zombies, now ghosts? She wasn't laughing!

She managed to pull herself back up to her feet, trying to warm up her now cold fingers by grabbing onto Sync and Annie's hands again. If they were going to be meatshields, they may as well be warm ones.

Anise had been hoping that the next room would provide some kind of relief for her, and while she was finally able to see what was around her, that was the only improvement. The cold air nipped painfully at her damp skin and soon covered her uniform with a thin layer of frost. When she felt her pigtails, the frozen hair was stuck together, and crunched between her fingers. Ugh. Winter in Daath didn't even get this cold!

And that noise! It was more than just a little unsettling. If Anise shuddered from the horrible screams, there was no way to tell, as she was definitely shivering from the cold air. There was ice everywhere! The walls, the ceiling, the floor... oops, there went Dahlia.

Anise gave the young woman her hand once she was back on her feet, and nodded at Sync's words. She glanced cautiously around the room, but then noticed something strange. At first, she thought it was just Sync's reflection in the ice, but then realized that couldn't be right. From the positioning, the figure had to be somewhere further in the room, and with that robe and that headdress, it could only be...

Ion's reflection. Ion was in the room with them.

Without warning, Anise yanked her hand away from Dahlia and took off after it. Where did the reflection come from? Part of her knew it just wasn't possible for Ion to be there with them, but she had to know for sure. When she ran behind a tall, sharp-looking stalagmite of ice, the girl found nothing but more large mirror-like walls. No sign of Ion, or anyone but herself.

Unfortunately, it was harder than expected to go from a desperate dash to a sudden halt, and when Anise tried to stop herself from running straight into one of those walls, her feet slipped out from under her, and she landed hard on her rear. "Oww!" she whined, wincing. That really hurt! But when she opened her eyes again and looked forward, the pain was quickly forgotten.

There he was again. She could see him in her reflection, standing right behind her. His face was clearer this time. It was deathly pale, with hollow eyes, and yet he wore the same gentle smile he usually did. He bent down and extended a thin, white, almost skeletal hand to her, as though offering to help her up.

With a gasp, Anise whipped her head around to face him, and saw nothing there. Looking back at the ice wall in front of her, there was again nothing. Just her own reflection.

Whatever plans he'd mentally conjured were halted once the intercom breathed to life. The longer the night progressed, the less coherent these messages became, but Sync figured that they weren't supposed to make much sense in the first place. However, the screams that filled the room had fallen on deaf ears as the God-General assessed the situation. Much like the last room, it looked as if moving slowly and cautiously would be enough to get them by, though if Dahlia's little act meant anything it was that the challenge would become even more of a nuisance with these dead weights dragging him down.

"Are you alright," He asked, but before he could continue Anise had already bolted away from them.

"Anise!" What the hell was wrong with her? For that brief moment a look of anger flashed across Sync's face, but it was gone as quickly as it came. This didn't mean he calmed down, however, and by the time the God-General led Dahlia around the stalagmite he was at the end of his rope.

As expected, Anise had already slipped and fell, and if Dahlia hadn't been present he wouldn't have thought twice about kicking the other teen from where she sat. Yet before he could march up to her and drag her back to her feet a sudden crack echoed throughout the room. Sync immediately looked up just as one of the larger icicles broke off from the ceiling, causing the teen to react before realizing it.

"YOU IDIOT!" It all happened in an instant. The God-General let go of Dahlia, rushing forward and tackling Anise out of the way just as the icicle crashed against the icy floor. They eventually skidded to a stop just a few feet away, but there was no hint of relief etched on Sync's faced as he glared angrily down at her.

"Why did you run off," He scolded her. "Weren't the last two rooms dangerous enough? Do you want to get yourself killed?!"

If she wanted to die that badly then he would've gladly done the honors ages ago.

Edited 2009-09-13 15:43 (UTC)

Dahlia almost slipped again when Anise ripped her hand out of hers, leaving the redhead without one of her anchors and reeling to have to cling onto Sync (in her opinion, they should just go back to the piggy back rides. Everything was so much easier for her then). Was she really going to chase after those things? Really? And wow, what a nice show of falling on where Dollie could only assume her brain to be. What a waste of space.

Speaking of wastes, her second anchor stormed off just after to boldly rescue his dear girlfriend and... show his true colors. Dahlia would have made a comment if the combined force of having no one to cling to pushed her into the world's most awkward pirouette before her legs slid out from under her again and she landed on her hip. There was a crash and some scolding up ahead of her, but Dahlia could only raise her head off the ice and glare death at them.

He should have just let her get hit. She was useless enough as it was, the fourteen year old brat.

It took some effort (ie: failed crawling to a wall and trying to climb up ICE. Ugh, she never needed to feel ice underneath her nails again), but she got back up and was carefully trying to make her way over to the dynamic dumbasses. Her clothes were freezing to her, her hair was currently a solid mass, and her teeth were chattering, but no. She had to keep up appearances. One of them had to. "Are you okay, Annie?" She held her hand out to her, casting Sync a worried look next. "Please don't yell at her..."

For a few seconds, Anise remained staring at the ice in front of her, waiting for the image to appear again. As she did, she only faintly registered the sound of a crack high above her.

And then Sync pounced. The girl cried out in surprise, and for a moment she feared it was an attack. After all, he'd made it clear he didn't want her running off, and that he didn't have any reservations about using violence if she didn't follow directions. Did she blow it? Before she could even complete that thought, there was a loud shattering sound. Looking back to where she had been sitting, there were the remains of a massive icicle.

Sync saved her?

She had a feeling he didn't do it out of the goodness of his heart, but it was still hard to believe. Anise turned her head to face him, her heart pounding, and met his furious glare. It wasn't the kind of look a rescuer would normally have. Even if Anise didn't blow it this time, she was probably on thin ice with the God-General now.

"...Sorry," she said reluctantly, not quite looking him in the eyes as she said it. She didn't want to apologize, and definitely wouldn't under normal circumstances, but if Sync was still keeping his act up, she had to do the same.

It was getting uncomfortable, with Sync still on top of her, so the girl wriggled her way out and, using Dahlia's hand for support, climbed back to her feet. "I'm fine," she assured her. As soon as she was standing, however, she started looking around the room again. Still no sign of Ion. Did she imagine the whole thing?

"I thought I saw someone," she admitted, seeing as her actions probably needed some explanation. Of course, she wasn't going to say who she saw, not with Sync there. He'd never let her live it down. After a pause, she asked, "Um... did either of you see anything?" If they didn't, then maybe it really was all in her head. There was no way Sync wouldn't notice if a fourth person was in the room.

Edited 2009-09-13 20:58 (UTC)

To hell if he 'blew' his cover. No person in their right mind would let Anise off the hook for making such a stupid mistake. Sometimes he found it hard to believe that she was a 'Fon Master Guardian', especially when she couldn't even take care of herself sometimes.

The urge her to wring her by the neck was growing, but he snapped back to reality when Dahlia suddenly spoke. It may have been the frigid air surrounding them, but by the time Anise apologized all his anger had been drained from his body, replaced with nothing more than apathy.

"Just... be careful next time," he muttered back as he pushed himself off Anise so she could take Dahlia's hand. To be honest, Sync was somewhat surprised that no other icicles broke off after all that racket, but maybe they'd just been unlucky with one that was already partially broken.

When Anise tried to explain her actions the God-General immediately glanced around them for any other sign of life. However...

"I didn't see anyone else," Sync began, giving Anise a strange look. "Are you sure it wasn't just one of our reflections?"

Nnnngh... Dahlia had to grasp onto Sync's arm as Anise pulled herself up, trying to counter-balance the weight so she didn't tumble to the floor again. When Annie was back on her feet, Dahlia shook her head in a negative. "I didn't see anyone, no." Not anyone Anise would know, but it looked like that undead hag had left by now. It was at least nice to know she wasn't the only person seeing dead people here.

God, she could feel her slippers sticking to the floor the more she stood still. When she moved them, she only began to slide. She hated ice. She never wanted to be near ice again. She needed to remind herself that, when they got out of here, she was killing Sync. She was telling Anise to close her eyes and she was killing Sync. Hell, she could kill Annie on top of it. No one would miss them. "If we're all okay, can we please go now?" She had enough of this room and the sooner they got out-... What was that noise?

Boom.

What was that? What was that? The earth shook for a few seconds as that rumbling crash sounded off (overhead? Were those bastards demolishing the entire institute without her being around to watch?) and there was an eerie silence after it went away.

Well, almost silent. There was a slight, shimmering sound of icicles quaking and hitting one another like windchimes.

There was a million and one things coming to mind as she looked at the ceiling and watched those now-loosened icicles begin to waver backwards and forwards. Unfortunately, the only thing to come out was a quiet "Oh, goddamn it" before Dahlia found the side of her right arm and top of her back sliced open by falling shards of ice. She was with Sync this time: to hell with her cover. And you know what? To hell with these two. She wasn't even going to give them the pleasure of hearing her scream.

As fast as she could, she began to run off without them, covering her head with her hands as the ice rained down like daggers on her skin.

"I'm sure," Anise replied with a small frown. If she hadn't been sure it wasn't one of them three, she wouldn't have run off after it. Actually, she probably wouldn't have run after it if it had been anyone but Ion. Did he think she was stupid?

But in any case, neither of them saw it. Anise's eyes had to be playing tricks on her. She didn't eat dinner, did she? Maybe that was why. She didn't feel dizzy or anything, though...

Her thoughts were interrupted by a loud, though somewhat distant, noise. The girl jolted in surprise as the room suddenly shook all around them. "Wha... what's happening!?" she cried, then yelped as another one of those icicles crashed down beside them. More followed. And more.

Dahlia took off before Anise could say or do anything, and as she felt one of those pointed shards scrape by her arm, Anise realized she couldn't afford to stand around in the open, either. Was there anything they could use for cover? At first Anise moved close to the wall, figuring she'd be less likely to get hit there, but then she lost sight of Dahlia. Part of her couldn't quite shake the mental image of that tiny girl getting impaled, and soon she was following, also with her hands over her head. "Hey, don't go so far!" she shouted after her. Damn it, why couldn't she just leave helpless people alone!?

And why was it that even the tiniest scrapes seemed to hurt a lot in the cold? As Anise ran, more of the falling icicles nicked her, each of them with a sharp pain that lingered far longer than it should have. A smaller one struck her forearm directly before breaking apart and falling, leaving a gash and a shard embedded in it. Too focused on staying alive and reaching Dahlia, Anise tried not to acknowledge it. She feared there'd be more where that came from if she stopped to examine the damage.

Unfortunately for Anise, Sync did think she was stupid; completely incapable of thinking for herself. The fact that she was hiding behind such a pathetic excuse didn't help much either, but for the moment the God-General just brushed it off. He'd have other chances to confront the teen, so moving forward took priority for now.

However, their 'good luck' seemed to have run out when a muffled blast suddenly shook the entire room. The God-General's eyes narrowed immediately, cursing under his breath when the icicles began to rattle above them.

It seemed as if what he'd expected come true when a pair of icicles rained down on Dahlia, slicing her back and arm in the process. By then the redhead was already on the move, with Anise following not even a second after. Sync had to grit his teeth, biting back harsh words as he sprinted after them.

Unlike the other two, the God-General kept his gaze upward, calculating his movements in order to dodge whatever icicles fell down upon him. Sync curled forward and rolled out of the way just as one of the larger daggers crashed into the floor, and in no time he was back on his feet. However, the icy floor made his movements unpredictable, and more often than not he found himself crashing into the nearby walls.

Eventually the icy maze cleared away, revealing what looked to be an open space with nothing more than the icy floor. However, Sync knew better than to be deceived, and by the time he slid onto its surface he stopped at edge to try and examine any hidden 'traps'.

Fortunately, a nearby icicle seemed to answer that for him as it embedded itself right into the thin layer ice, a small splash creeping out of the new hole.

"You've got to be kidding me..."

Forget them. Forget them. Forget their little plans for whatever they were doing down here, forget her innocent charade in front of them, and forget this room! Of course, her arms, back, and even her legs and chest were now either bruised, bloodied, or a combination of both from having ice nicking her skin or accidentally sliding herself into sharp walls of cold. None of it was going to kill her, though, that was all she cared about, not them! The door to the exit was so close...

She slid the second her feet made contact with the smooth expanse of cleared ice and, like the two times before, her body took to falling over. This time, however, the forward momentum was enough to keep her sliding across this ice-rink like a declawed cat on slick tiles. When she stopped in about the middle, she spewed a few acid-laced choice words and pushed herself up into a sitting position.

Prison was nothing compared to this...

She began to breathe, ignoring the cold, the pain of her wounds and bruises, and just entertained herself with the thought of those two morons being impaled by a dozen tiny knives. She imagined their screams of torture, their cries for help. She imaged Sync cursing her name and Anise crying for her mommy. It made her smile.

In the middle of this fantasy though, she spotted a little crack forming out of the corner of her eye in the ice beneath her, just waiting to grow the moment she got back up. From the screams and shouts coming up from behind her, it looked like maybe she didn't have to.

Oh, were they still alive? How good for her.

She was shaking when they got there and it wasn't for show. Dahlia was mad, her blood was freezing to her, and she wanted out. But playing them for a few more seconds wouldn't hurt her any more than she already was. "D-don't get on the ice!" she shouted, head down and body curled in a submissive position. "It'll break!"

Finally, she could see Dahlia! The worst of the icicle rain seemed to be over with, too. What the hell happened, anyway? An earthquake? Anise hoped there wouldn't be any aftershocks.

It was kind of suspicious when the room abruptly opened up into a wide, empty space. Anise slowed down, then stopped moving altogether, allowing herself to slide forward a bit before coming to a complete stop.

When Dahlia shouted her warning, Anise looked down. There was movement below the ice. Water!? Slowly and carefully, she shuffled back to more solid ground. It was a good thing Dahlia probably didn't weigh much, or she would've been underwater by now. Even so, she looked like she was in trouble. Between her running recklessly onto the ice, and the impact of some of the icicles, the ice had to be extra weak. But there was no turning back. The best they could do was move forward, but not all at once.

"You're almost at the exit!" she shouted to Dahlia. "Just take it slow, and you'll make it!" She couldn't be sure of that, but she was trying to sound encouraging. There wasn't much else she could do for her without putting them both at risk.

In the meantime, the girl pulled out what remained of the chunk of ice that had embedded itself in her arm. Doing that made it bleed more, but it hurt a lot less without the stinging cold all along the edge of the wound.

Sync had very little patience for Dahlia's act now, and this was evident when he suddenly sprinted right onto the ice despite Anise's words of encouragement. He had pulled the knife bag off his shoulder, holding it out to his side in order to spread his weight across the ice. However, while his movements remained light, it was obvious that he didn't care much about being cautious anymore.

The God-General gave no warming as he suddenly ducked down and grabbed Dahlia by the arm, hoisting her up to her feet right after.

"We don't have time for this..." Sync muttered lowly, but he didn't bother to wait for her response, instead pulling her across the rest of the ice. Miraculously, even with their combined weight they managed to get across the remaining ice, and Sync took a moment to catch his breath before glancing over his shoulder.

"Anise! Hurry up!"

She was just starting to cry like a martyr (No, no, just leave her! She wasn't worth it! Baw!) when Sync rushed in and dragged her off her knees, effectively sliding her to the other wall and right next to the door. What she wanted, yes. But so tactless. Still, she wasn't six feet under a frozen lake though, so whatever.

She clung herself to Sync and gave him little kisses on both of his cheeks in teary-eyed, overemotional thanks. But lo, what about Anise? She turned her head to look at the girl left behind, eyes as wide and afraid for her new friend!

"Annie, please be careful!" God forbid she fall into the ice and Dahlia had to lose a meatshield.

Edited 2009-09-14 02:20 (UTC)

Anise had figured the safest way to go would be one at a time, but it looked like Sync had other ideas. "Are you crazy!?" she blurted as the boy raced across the ice, sweeping Dahlia up and pulling her straight to safety. He was a regular knight in shining armor tonight, wasn't he?

She had to try not to cringe when the girl actually kissed Sync out of gratitude. Twice!

When Sync urged her to follow, Anise stared back with a dubious look, still finding it hard to believe he actually succeeded at such a reckless approach. But after a moment, she nodded, then pushed her feet forward, sliding across the ice in as smooth and controlled a way as she could. She kept her distance from where Dahlia had fallen and Sync had raced across, figuring those spots were most likely to break.

Before too long, the Guardian made it across safely. She slapped her hands against the door to stop herself from sliding around, and immediately moved to open it. "Finally, we can get out of here!" she cried happily. This had to be the worst room. Had to be.

[to here]

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Nightshift 43: Room of Water

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