Night 47: Main Hallway, 2-Center

[donetakinorders.livejournal.com]

[from here]

It was times like this he had to wonder if he was the only damn person in this place who still cared about finding the fastest way home possible. Which probably wasn't true, but hell. Seeing as the only people he'd worked with so far had 'stealing books' as a goal or were setting up training nights, it was no damn wonder he was feeling more than a little pissed off about the whole thing.

But really, what it all boiled down to, everything that had been bothering him so far, was one simple fact. Raphael was homesick. He knew it too, would have been an idiot not to. He missed the city, the rumble of the subway felt distantly through the walls of their home, sneaking out for late night training sessions with his brothers where they ran across the rooftops playing tag or follow the leader. He missed the nights they'd spend drinking cocoa at April's place, talking all about the things they'd seen and done. But most of all he missed his family. He missed how Leo always had a plan of action and Donny had the tools for the job, while Mikey could keep things light and not too serious. Hell, he even missed Mikey's jokes and how often he talked about that stupid Battle Nexus trophy he'd won. But he didn't know where his brothers were or if they were even alive at all, if they'd been brought here as well and turned into something they weren't or if Karai had destroyed his family as well as his home.

It was the not knowing that hurt the worst, and Raphael had never been good at dealing with that kind of frustration. It made him want to find something, anything really, and just hit it. And keep on hitting it until things started making sense again or he came up with a way to actually leave this place or something.

And somehow he didn't think this little training session was going to help much there.

Comments

[exbride.livejournal.com]

Stubborn. The both of them were stubborn and similar. Anthy tensed visibly and narrowed her eyes when they both vaulted onto the rails, displaying considerable skill and brash determination as they did so. Now they were racing about to try and corner her, with Utena coming around the other side and the man, who apparently considered himself more turtle than man, charging her head-on.

"Don't shout your plans so loudly," she said. It was almost taunting, but mostly coldly dismissive. Anthy flickered away seconds before Raphael's strike landed, the same as she had done with Utena.

She materialized at the center of all four halls this time. The same place where all this began, she was floating at the safe point. Driven back by their combined persistence, she summoned an angry ring of swords to encircle her, the danger more palpable as her distress rose.

One sword after another targeted both Utena and Raphael's paths and flew after them as soon as she was in place. It was almost as if the weapons were rapidly being flung, haphazard, some thunking straight into the walls when they missed. She was less careful with her aim now -- if any attacks landed there might be deep gashes, non-fatal wounds instead of nicks and scrapes --

Might be enough this time, might be enough.

[revolutionise]

"Ehah! Ah!" Utena gasped and flailed as she darted back and forth across the rails, dodging and parrying swords left and right. Or at least she tried to. The attacks were so random and frenzied it was impossible to watch out for all of them. Blades slit across her arms and legs multiple times, leaving long (thankfully shallow) cuts in their wake. She hoped the stranger was faring better than she was. "Himemiya! Stop doing this! You don't have to do this!" she pleaded frantically between breaths. "I'm your friend, remember?! Weren't we going to escape this place together?"

Her mind flipped to her thoughts from the beginning of the night at that. The happy thoughts. The hopeful thoughts. Somewhere inside, Himemiya was still Himemiya, right? Maybe a reminder of something better would stir that part of her again. It had to. It was the only idea Utena had right now. 

"We can run away together after this is over, Himemiya!" she cried out, stopping in the center of the left rail as she locked gazes with her friend again. There was something there now other than emptiness, she noticed. It was fear. Apprehension. What was Himemiya so worried about? Utena didn't really know, but she did her best to assuage that fear as she continued: "We can run away from here - from Ohtori too if that's what you want! We can start over together somewhere new, just you and me!"

Stopping caused Utena to take some deeper cuts to her arms, and she grunted and yelped when they hit. She panted roughly, dashing to the side one more time to avoid another incoming barrage. That didn't stop her from trying to break through, however. "Didn't you leave to stop being the Rose Bride?! Why are you letting someone use you like this again?! There's no way you're happy doing this! Come down, Himemiya! We can leave this place in our dust!" she called out, louder and more desperate this time as she stopped next to the south-west post. 

[donetakinorders.livejournal.com]

Raph threw himself into a flip after the purple-haired bitch vanished, both to do something with the momentum and to shift to another railing. He'd been expecting her to disappear, since that's what had happened last time, but not for her to appear in the air or for there to be a swarm of damn swords suddenly flying towards them, one after the other.

He managed to narrowly avoid one and block another with his sword, but he could see it was going to take a lot more than that. "What the fuck is with all these damn swords?!" he yelled, running to avoid one, only for another to slice across his arm.

Still cursing fluently, Raphael threw himself upwards and twisted in the air, managing to catch a second weapon by the hilt, even as he felt another slice his back. No shell. He had to remember that. The movement took him off the railings and back to the floor, so at least he had more room to move around while blocking the onslaught.

And time to form another plan, if it could be called that. He didn't care if it was a plan or 'Raph is really pissed off', so long as it got the job done. Timing was key and he frowned in concentration as he readied himself. Block one, two attacks, ignore the one that caught his leg much deeper than any had previously, and... now. He threw himself into a sudden roll to the side, counting on her aim taking a second to catch up to him, rose smoothly from the movement, and hurled one of his own swords back towards its owner before finding himself a target again.

Now he just had to hope it did something other than clatter to the floor below part way.

[exbride.livejournal.com]

There was no starting over. The choice between the outside world and the role of the Rose Bride was ... it was not a choice, because the outside world had blamed her, named her destruction and then destroyed her. She already knew what was on the outside. Even with Utena at her side -- Utena could not save her because Utena knew nothing and was not her prince. Utena was --

She was shouting things that Anthy almost recognized (I left to find you) but could not process in this state. The Rose Bride: her shackles, her duty, her cheap thrill, her chance to cause some chaos, her chance to cause some pain. Subservience to her brother or subservience to the world at large, it was all the same, she had to take what she could get. She had to take what she could get. Utena did not understand.

And yet, the barrage of swords slowed almost to a stop as she shouted all these things Anthy almost recognized. Her eyes spoke of the ache those words were causing -- and with her guard let down, the sword Raphael threw back actually landed somewhere to the left of her lower spine, piercing through to her gut at the front with fresh blood. Her body spasmed and her hands curled around the front of the blade, mouth open on a gasp. As an agent of Landel's for this one night, a witch once more, she could not die. Mostly, on the inside she was hollow.

She could feel pain, though. Pain given and taken; that was normal. That was normal. She didn't begrudge them that. Anthy's shoulders slumped and a sword floated to her side, trembling slightly in the air as if held by an unsteady hand. "It's too late," she replied, her voice cracking. "You can't be my prince."

Because you're a girl, but she couldn't say it twice and she couldn't do this twice (stop), but she had to. Utena just didn't stop (don't) and the only way to stop her was -- was to point the tip of that sword at her and propel it forward, send it plunging straight through Utena's side, and she did. Second verse, same as the first. It was the same sensation of the blade slicing through her friend's insides and poking out the other side.

Except this time she was facing the other girl and didn't strike to kill. Her aim was off. It wasn't easy. She didn't know why. Anthy trembled in the air and didn't bother to guard or attack further. The strain of the internal conflict, partly conscious of what she was doing now because of Utena's shouting, left her open and confused. The swords paused and quiet fell over the area.

[revolutionise]

Utena's breath caught sharply in her throat when the sword pierced through Himemiya's back. Somehow, just this one sword wound was more agonizing to gaze upon than the multitude of earlier. She could see the exit wound so much more clearly. Could hear the squelching flesh and cracking ribs. Could almost feel the blade inside her own body as she watched Himemiya twist and writhe around it. "What the hell are you doing?!" she shouted across to the stranger fiercely, despite all logic that told her the attack had probably been a smart thing to try. "She's had enough of that already! You're going to kill her!"

Her wide eyes flitted back up to Himemiya, shaking with fear and anguish. The swords had slowed now. Had the stranger really hit something inside that would kill her? "Himemiya! Himemiya!" she called out. She again searched for her friend's eyes, looking one more time for any sign of life.

There was a stirring there, but it was not in the girl's eyes. To her side, one new sword had appeared.

"It's too late. You can't be my prince."

By the time those words sunk into her mind, the sword had sunken into her flesh.

The pain seemed to spread in slow motion, like an advancing sheet of ice through her body. Utena's legs buckled beneath her. She fell backward to the balcony floor, landing on her back with a thud of flesh and a clang of bloody metal. The wound wasn't fatal, but god if it didn't feel like it would be. Her breaths became short and laboured. She could still see Himemiya hanging there in the air beyond the balcony rail. The girl's expression held no remorse. "Wh . . . what . . . ?" The blade in her body seemed to radiate with the girl's hatred. Could brainwashing alone really be responsible for that kind of coldness?

There really was no getting through to her at this point. She could see that now. Words wouldn't do it. Fighting wouldn't do it. Himemiya was completely locked away. There would be absolutely no way to save her short of . . .

Short of getting at the lock itself.

Utena only had one option left. She wasn't even sure it was worth anything - it was just too far to make it work, her rational mind told her. When her choices were leaving her friend to continue hurting others like this and having the slightest chance at saving her, though, Utena felt the answer was obvious, regardless of seeming impossibilities.

Gasping and hissing deeply, she gripped the hilt of the sword in her side and started pulling on it. She cried out roughly through a dry mouth, forcing the thing to pull out as swiftly and cleanly as it could. It, her own sword, and her flashlight were all cast aside as she struggled to get back to her feet, focusing on every breath it took to get her there. On the way down, the flashlight danced over Himemiya's face one more time, catching her green eyes for one brief snapshot in time. That colour crystallized in Utena's mind, allowing her something to focus on as she took a few steps back in preparation for what she was about to do.

"I will be your prince, Himemiya. I swear," she told the floating girl as firmly as she could before biting down hard on her own lip. She forced herself to ignore the pain in her side as best she could. Hopefully she could ignore the drop in front of her so well.

With all her determination crammed up inside, Utena was able to run. She ran straight for the railing again. Only this time, she didn't vault onto it. Instead, with both hands, she launched herself up over it, only using the rail as a springboard to carry her further forward across the looming gap between her and her friend. With one hand outstretched, she flew forward, much the same as she had done on the night the girl had once been kidnapped. If she could do it then, she could do it again. And even as she felt herself beginning to fall, she called out as loud as she could: "HIMEMIYA!"