With each person that Sora met and either explained things to or apologized to, he felt a little better. In some ways, though, it was bittersweet, because he was also going through this so that he could leave again. It wasn't that he wanted to leave them behind like this, but Sora was used to having to part with his friends in order to take care of things. He'd done that with Riku and Kairi a number of times already, and he still hadn't found his way back to them.

But that was why he was working so hard at this now. So that he could find the way home for both himself and everyone else here. He was going to miss all of the people he'd come to know at Landel's, no doubt about that, but he had faith that he'd meet them again, and under better circumstances.

He hadn't done all of his work here yet, though. There were still a few people who he needed to talk to, which was why he left a message for Tsubaki asking if she would meet him in the Game Room. Sora couldn't deny to himself the reason that he'd picked that room. It was one of the places here he had the most fun with, so he wanted a chance to see it before he had to leave.

It was silly, of course, to even get attached to that degree, but that was simply how Sora handled things. He would never miss Landel's once he was gone, not with all of the horrible things that he'd been through here, but the people were another story.

And, well, there were the Game Boys.

Since the room was mainly empty and Tsubaki wasn't here yet, Sora went to find one, wondering to himself if it would be possible to take one along with him to Farwell. But that wouldn't be very responsible, would it? He needed to be working to help the rebels, not sitting around playing games!

[For Tsubaki.]

"Just because you may have found some unusual little nook or cranny somewhere..." Ah, that was clearly directed toward him, and anyone else who would be poking their nose into someplace it presumably didn't belong tonight. Kratos smiled grimly as he worked his way through all of the belts lining his old uniform. As tedious as the process was, it was comforting to go through an old, familiar routine, and it forced him to stop and take the time to think through the night's plans clearly while he buckled everything into place. Hopefully, Castiel wouldn't ask too many questions about his choice of clothing, even though he probably had good reason to ask.

He finished up his preparations by inserting the batteries he'd bought into the radio. It took a few tries to get everything to match up, but eventually, it was cheerily playing the advertised children's songs. Of course, he'd make sure to try out its other, far more useful function, but he could wait. Satisfied, Kratos turned off the radio and headed out the door.

[to here]

Scar wasn't fond of being forced to shower with everyone else. Bathing had been a rare luxury during his recent time in Lior, (Had it really only been just over a week ago?) so he was thankful at least for the chance to wash. Just as long as he could spend the whole time facing the wall.

He washed himself quickly and quietly, taking no time to savor the warm water and steam that made him drowsy.

[To here]

[from here]

As far as the man could tell, there was nothing waiting to pounce them.  That didn't mean much; the room was large, and the flashlight's beam only illuminated so far.  The Once-ler held back at the entrance, allowing one of the other three to take the lead.  Instead, he slowly swept the light back and forth, just to make sure it was clear.  "So far, so good," the Once-ler commented, although his tone indicated he wasn't expecting the quiet to last.

Come lunch time, Ed was pried away from his brother and told that he should find someone else to spend time with and that he could spend more time with Al tomorrow if he behaved.

He relucantly followed the nurse and orderly back inside and was given a bagged lunch. Upon being told that he had no idea where he should go, the nurse led him to the Music Room ("Maybe you'll have time to see if there's any music that appeals to you, David.").

Ed went over to an unoccupied couch and sat down on one end, to see what they gave him. Tuna sandwich, an apple, and yogurt. Well, he didn't usually eat the third, but whatever. He was getting hungry enough that he didn't really care, even past the sedative which thankfully seemed to finally be wearing off although his brain was still fogged over and his attention span was shot.

He worked his way through his sandwich, not really noticing the taste, and looked around the room curiously; noting the instruments and rows of some sort of case on the shelves and other things that he couldn't identify.

[Lust!]

Speaking with Orihara had become uncomfortable ever since Castiel's day spent as Michael Collins, and that was only doubled when he had to talk to him while he was post-operative. Still, he'd managed to get through the conversation, and while Castiel didn't like being a captive audience, so to speak, the change in shifts meant that he would never be stuck speaking with someone for too long.

Orihara was more of an annoyance than anything, though. They'd worked well enough together before, but there was something about his interest in him that left Castiel feeling uneasy. In the end, though, it wasn't a threat he needed to consider for any long period of time.

With the choice of any number of outside options for the lunch shift, Castiel's nurse suggested that he spend some time out in the courtyard. "Getting some sun might do you good, Michael, don't you think? Especially since it's gotten a little warmer today."

He didn't have much reason to protest, and so he didn't argue the point, instead watching the activity of shuffling patients around him as he was pushed out into the courtyard. Though he was one of the first patients to be brought here, as the area itself was empty for the moment.

The nurse wheeled him so that he was sitting near the pond and then smiled down at him. "There you go! Enjoy the fresh air, all right?" She placed the sack lunch in his lap and then took her leave.

Castiel nodded and watched as she walked away, and actually did his best to forget the pain and the nausea and instead observed the rippling of the pond water.

[For L!]

For the first time since Kyousuke arrived, waking up didn't feel the slightest bit strange or out of place. It was still like night had suddenly stopped, with nothing in-between then and now, but instead of being disorienting, or like there was something missing, it was like waking up from a nightmare. His breaths came heavy and anxious, everything flooding back to him, but unlike last night, he had more mental clarity, and he actually understood what it meant.

Sora... was dead.

After a moment, his breathing seemed to ease up, and he sat up slowly, and simply stared down at his blanket. The motion hurt quite a bit, a lot worse than it had yesterday morning, but he seemed to be in decent shape, all considered. Sore, battered, a little faint, but compared to worst of it...

He wondered if he should feel upset right now, or want to yell, or cry, but the truth was, he didn't. If anything, he was just numb. Tired and listless. He wasn't sure what to think or feel about anything, but somehow it seemed distant and disconnected, like something that hadn't actually happened. Yet, if he lingered on it too long, the lifelessness grew into something nauseating, heavy and constricting in his chest, and he didn't even notice until he realized he was gripping his bedding unnecessarily hard. So he forced himself to relax, and not focus on it too much. ... He preferred the cold sort of nothingness.

When the nurse arrived, she wasn't empty-handed, unfolding a wheelchair by his bedside and looking at him expectantly, as if she wanted him to settle himself into it. Looking at it was strange and uncomfortable, and he found himself refusing automatically.

"... I can walk fine. I don't need—"

"What you don't need," the nurse said sternly, "is to be overexerting yourself. You got to walk around yesterday, and what do you do? You go and reopen your injuries! Honestly, Mr. Taylor, you might be young, but you need to take better care of yourself! Today, you're resting, and if you're good about it, we'll see about maybe taking the chair away tomorrow."

That was bad enough, but then she wouldn't even let him wheel himself, and pushed him along from behind. This was totally unnecessary... But though it made him feel helpless, Kyousuke didn't have the energy to argue, so he let her do what she wanted. She asked if he wanted to make a quick trip the bulletin, first, but... Would the news be there? There were people who deserved to know, but there would be reactions to it, questions he didn't want to answer, and feeling his stomach give a lurch, he decided he didn't want to deal with it. Any of it.

Once in the cafeteria, the nurse asked him about breakfast, but Kyousuke insisted he wasn't hungry. ... He wasn't. Sensing he wanted to be left alone, she wheeled him off to an easily overlooked portion of the cafeteria, but quickly returned, setting food and some juice in front of him, "just in case." She set a small paper cup with a couple of painkillers on the tray, and after that, she left, leaving the boy to stare down the meal he didn't really want.

[ Kratos! ]

[From here.]

This was a trip that had gotten old ages ago, and so Harvey tried to make it as short as possible by falling into a brisk walk. He didn't go so far as to jog, since he didn't need to tire himself out before the action even started, but it was a good idea to save time where he could.

All of that was made very easy by the fact that there weren't any other patients around. He didn't know if it was because they were busy going through a painful transformation into some deadly monster, but if that was it, then he also wanted to get to a more open area sooner rather than later.

Harvey reached the end of the hall and rounded the corner into the main hall.

[To here.]

What Guy had seen on that scan resulted in some mixed feelings. While he had expected to find something in Claude, seeing how he was sick, it hadn't been quite the same as what they'd seen when they had scanned that other ill patient two nights ago. What did that mean? It was possible that the shape of it just looked different because of where it was in Claude's stomach, but Guy couldn't help but feel that there was a deeper meaning to it.

Yet another thing that he didn't understand, then. With a sigh, he got himself up out of bed and went searching immediately for the single leaf that he'd taken from the X-ray room last night. It was stored carefully in his possessions box, which meant that he didn't have to worry too much about that.

While he wanted to quickly sketch the leaf's general shape to post on the bulletin, Guy wasn't given that chance, as his nurse showed up before he could even grab for his journal. He had to relent and let her lead him to the cafeteria for breakfast. While Guy considered stopping by the bulletin to leave a note, that could wait until after he ate. He suspected that Anise or Luke would try to find him as soon as possible to tell him about their findings, so leaving a note for them would be redundant.

He did need to ask about the clue from last night and see if anyone else had further insight on it, but that might be something Claude wanted to do, seeing how he had a better idea of who that baptist was and what it all might signify.

After collecting a small amount of food onto a plate, Guy took a seat near the cafeteria's entrance, keeping an eye out for any of his friends so he could flag them down as they walked in.

[For Anise and Claude.]

[from here]

As Kyousuke pushed open the door, he was greeted by a gust of freezing air, but he pressed on out onto the field anyway. It was a misty night, so he couldn't see quite as far as normal, but he could at least make out the low walls that surrounded the area. He considered turning back for a moment, because it was a bit cold not to have a jacket, but ended up deciding against it. He'd had a lot worse, and being outside was progress. He couldn't think of anything useful he might find inside a building without any electricity, and the sooner he left, the better.

He slowly made his way around the wall, hoping for some kind of exit that had been obscured by the darkness and fog, but no luck. There were vines, though... That would be a lot faster than going back inside and searching for another way out. He pulled on them good and hard a few times, and they remained in place. It looked like they would hold his his weight... Good. Then all that was left was to follow the outside of walls until he found his way to the street, and he could figure out which way to go from there.

Murphy wasn't able to control his knee jerk reaction to the static, gripping his desk chair as the lights went out and bracing for an attack he quickly realized wasn't about to come. And the Big Doc's voice carried on, bringing back unpleasant memories for the ex-con. He frowned, uncomfortable, not sure what to think or how to take the message....

He knew all too well what it was to turn into a monster.

When the computer system fell to some sort of electronic epileptic fit, Murphy just shook his head. Flashlight in one hand and chair in the other, he headed out into the hallway. He'd trust Harvey's assertion that there were plenty of directions to go, and trust his own luck he'd find one. There wasn't much else that he could do.

And maybe he'd find someone who needed help. He'd managed to keep Nina safe last night. That was more than he'd ever managed in Silent Hill. That was a good sign, wasn't it? And against all odds he was alive, and as long as he was alive he had the power to change his own fate.

Or so he kept telling himself as he ventured out into the far-more-active darkness of the institute.

When the cheery jingle sounded over the speakers, the Head Doctor could be heard humming a song that suspiciously sounded like pieces of "Superstar" from today's movie. Then, as if realizing people were listening, he abruptly cleared his throat.

"Good evening, patients!" he greeted after a quick recovery. "I do hope everyone had a pleasant day. And what better way to end things than with a scrumptious steak dinner? We'll be including fries on the side, as well as offering our usual assortment of water, milk, and juices. Of course, we also carry vegetarian options for those of you who don't eat meat. Enjoy!"

The intercom turned off, leaving the nurses to escort patients to their rooms.

((Please make all dinner threads under this post with your character's room number in the subject line. For updated roommate assignments, refer to the latest Lounge Post. Thanks!))

Scar had spent the morning napping in the Sun Room. Brunch had been skipped, as the nausea was still persisting. He would have been happy to lounge around all day and catch up on sleep, but his nurse had continuously been suggesting that he would be happier if he did something with himself. Fine.

So, Scar had meandered into the Arts and Crafts room. Sitting at one of the tables, he absentmindedly fiddled with the supplies at the center. The scissors were disappointingly dull. He had been hoping for something useful, but apparently they really did think of everything.

He may as well take his time to sort his thoughts. But he wasn't really sure where to begin. He looked down at his injured hand. The bandage didn't cover the rash entirely, but at least he had received medical attention.

He still wasn't at ease with this whole "illness" thing.

[For Murphy!]

This time, when Rita awakened, the drowsiness and disorientation cleared much faster than it had during the night. Being in a familiar room with traces of light helped with that. Instinctively, she tried to pull herself up, but the motion sent a piercing pain through her chest.

"Oh, Paige, let me help you!" a nurse cried from the doorway as she rushed to Rita's side. For once, Rita wasn't about to put up a fight, though she grumbled a bit as she was eased upright and to her feet. Her right arm was in a cast, which was kept immobilized in a sling. Wherever skin was visible, bruising could be found, and a particularly deep shade of blackish-blue could be seen peeking out from the edge of her shirt collar.

As they began to walk to the Sun Room, the nurse continued talking. "I hope you're not too disappointed at missing the field trip. But I have good news for you! The doctors say you'll be good as new in no time, so long as you take care and don't aggravate your injuries." The woman went on to list a number of activities the mage should avoid or ask for help with, as though Rita couldn't figure those things out for herself. Finally, they reached their destination and Rita was left in peace.

First things first: the bulletin. Since it was early in the day, there weren't many messages from patients yet. That was fine; it would mean her own message would be more visible. First, she needed to notify Taura of her situation, and then there were a few magic-related topics she wanted to inquire about...

Rita picked up a pen and a slip of paper, bent over one of the tables near the bulletin, and began to write... but the letters came out jerky and illegible.

"Dammit," she hissed, scrapping the paper and beginning again. Using only her non-dominant hand was more difficult than she imagined. This time, she wrote very slowly, taking care to write each stroke of each letter neatly. The result was still awkward-looking, but at least it was a readable start. She just needed to be patient... though that was a virtue Rita certainly lacked.

[Taura!]

Quiet static filtered through the intercom as the door to the Entry Room was pushed open. The area was almost completely dark, save for the flickering beam spilling from the lone, abandoned flashlight on the floor.

If that wasn't enough to put any entering patients on edge, the crimson puddle smeared across the flashlight's path likely was. The source of the blood soon became obvious: two still corpses lay sprawled next to each other. One was Daemon Sadi -- or, rather, what was left of him. Although his face was still recognizable enough, one of his arms was missing, and his chest looked as those some creature had reached in and ripped his heart out.

The other mangled body was trickier to place, as the poor person's flesh was twisted and bloated beyond recognition in some places, not unlike the way some of the nurses had transformed on the buses.

Closer inspection would reveal the face of a man in his final moments. Some would even see the distinct tattoos and recognize him as Abarai Renji. More unnerving was the abandoned, bloodied knife resting next to the former man's corpse, his belly having been gouged open for some unknown purpose. A trail of scarlet footsteps led away from the scene before abruptly disappearing at the northern door.

Did a similar fate await the unfortunate one who had stumbled across this bloodbath?

[from here]

...Another empty hallway.

Chair held by both back legs - one in each hand - Murphy sighed and slumped against the wall. These stupid clothes didn't have pockets, and shoving things awkwardly in the waistband of his pants was beginning to become a pain. If this were a normal chair, like he usually found, he'd just break it apart and use one of the legs. Unfortunately, that didn't look like an option.

There was less junk lying around here, too. Practically none, now that he thought about it. Maybe...maybe he didn't need a weapon? The radio had remained silent, and there were no corpses lying around. Not even a blood trail.

He set the chair down and took the radio out, wondering if maybe it was broken. He stuck the end of the flashlight into his mouth to free his hands and allow him to investigate the piece of equipment.

Maybe this was some sort of clue....

[For Nina!]

[from here]

Footsteps echoing in the dingy corridors, Murphy kept his ears alert for the slightest crackle of static or rumble of thunder. But he heard neither. Something was...off here. More off.

"You know you've got problems when you're worried about levels of fucked-upness," he muttered to himself, peering around the corner into a wider hallway. It looked like it led out of the patient room wing. No monsters in here, and no Cunningham either.

Not to mention a lack of jarring paperwork scattered about. But of course there wasn't, what was left?

"Don't try to understand. You're not going to, not like this. Just...get out."

That core objective remained the same. Get out. Get...somewhere. Anywhere. Make like the couple in the song, go down south to Mexico and live on the beach. Lay in the sun and drink fruity drinks all day, try and be happy.

But first, another damned hallway....

....the fuck?

Murphy Pendleton couldn't decide what was a dream and what was reality. Another strange bed. Another memory of....

God. What now? Wasn't this nightmare over?

His things were gone again. But...had he even had anything on him, before the darkness took him that last time? No, that couldn't have been real. It had been some...some crazy vision. The town could do that somehow. He just...saw what Cunningham saw, that was all.

Speaking of...there was no one in this place, which looked like a hospital. That was strange...he couldn't remember any hospitals. And it was curiously quiet; no strange giggling or pained moaning echoing through the hallways. No static. Even his clothes were different, and he hadn't changed them himself this time.

"What's going on?" Was the town still playing with him? Or was he like Bobby now, stuck and forced to spend his existence in hell until he broke one of their stupid, arbitrary rules? No. That wasn't fair. That wasn't fair at all, he'd done what he had to, God damnit!

Murphy took a deep breath. He needed to focus on the positives and maintain calm. Whatever was happening, he was still alive. And after everything he'd made it through up until now, he could get through this, too. There had been clothes in the closet of the room he'd woken up in, and a radio and journal to replace the ones lost. Even a flashlight. The best weapon had been a chair, but he'd hauled plenty of chairs all over Silent Hill already.

Having no clues at all to guide him and no sense of immediate danger, Murphy began traversing the halls of the unknown hospital that had claimed him....