(from here)

"I'll take your word for it," Jack said. "All I ate was the cake." And as cake went, it had been pretty good, he had to admit.

And then they were at the top of the stairs. He hugged the inside wall for a moment, before slowly easing out into the new hallway, listening for anything untoward.

So far, so good.

"Looks like we have three choices," he said quietly over his shoulder. "Left, right, or straight."

The Head Doctor's announcement cut Raven and Naminé's discussion short. Although she did not have a visitor, the words of the insane doctor chilled Naminé's spine. She looked visibly bothered by them, but... well, she'd have to think about that later on, she guessed. There was no time left for speculating now.

"It's time. I'll take you to the second floor, if you'd like," Naminé offered, getting up off of the bed and gathering the things left in her dresser drawer. Flashlight and radio. Sure enough, Mr. Radio had an accompanying announcement to go with the Head Doctor's, but his words, as always, flew right over her head.

"Last time I went down the hall, there were monsters... let's try to move quickly," The witch warned her companion as she opened the door and started down the hall, checking to see if Raven was following. Naminé wasn't much of a leader, but she had lead others out of danger before. Hopefully she could do that now.

It was probably a good thing Penelo listened to that weird silver haired man (she never really did get his name, did she?), because her short investigation of the Bulletin Board revealed that she wasn't alone after all. Larsa and Gabranth were here too, for whatever reason.

Penelo still couldn't quite wrap her mind around the concept that Gabranth was alive, when she had heard his dying words and had later attended his funeral back at Archades. Basch had taken his place since then, and it just boggled her. How could Gabranth have returned to life? There was no force in Ivalice that could do that.

Then again, it looked like she wasn't in Ivalice anymore.

Penelo sighed, seating herself at a table near the bulletin board as she waited for Larsa and Gabranth to arrive. Hopefully, Larsa would have some answers; she never doubted his ability to dig up information, no matter what the situation. Even so, what did they get themselves into?

"At least Vaan isn't here," Penelo reminded herself. She had gone from frantically searching for Vaan to praising the Gods that he hadn't been captured in this prison.

Despite the disturbing revelations and rather depressing mood of brunch, Tamaki was looking forward to Hosting once more. And he knew that at least two girls would be coming! He really did need to find a lady-Host, or a few. It wasn't very likely that every man who attended would be amenable to the usual Host attentions. No, they'd need some girls.

Real girls, not Haruhi-girls. Oh, Haruhi... Tamaki both missed her and was pleased she seemed to be keeping to herself and out of danger.

But now it was time to Host! The Courtyard was hardly on par with the gardens of Ouran, but it was pretty. And there were places to sit and flowers and all in all the best option available. Tamaki draped himself elegantly across a bench, and then scrambled up to tack a hand-written sign - done on journal paper - behind him. It simply said:

HOST CLUB

With that done, Tamaki nodded and lounged again, stretching out like the Lord he titled himself as to wait for the others.

Cid usually liked sleeping in, especially in a place as messed up and uninviting as this, but this happened to be one situation where he really wished he hadn't.

Right there, on the bulletin board. The Head Doctor and he'd fucking missed it? Some part of him wished he'd been there to take his eye out and another part of him knew he wouldn't have been able to. No man that powerful who hid for so long went to dangerous places without some kind of entourage.

Brunch sounded like it'd be filling, at least, though he nearly stopped in his tracks when the bastard announced TEA. TEA. It'd been a damn long while since he'd had some fucking tea, though with all the stress this place had found fit to rain down on his fucking head, it hadn't really been the first priority on his mind. Kinda nice, even if Cid was sure this was just some game the mother fucker was playing to get them all stuck neck-deep in Stockholm Syndrome.

He scanned the mostly-empty room for any sign of a familiar face once he'd piled waffles and sausages and syrup on his plate, though the person he really wanted to talk to was that Reynolds guy. "Spaceship" was the last word he remembered clearly before waking up in his bed, and dammit if he wasn't going to keep it stuck like glue in his mind.

He found a table where he could watch people come into the cafeteria and grabbed for his mug. The steam rising from his drink and the bag of herbs in it was nearly enough to make him grin despite it all, and it was with marked leisure and a little relief that he drank his goddamn tea.

When the intercom clicked on, the voice that echoed throughout the halls was far too fresh in the minds of too many people.

"Hello, again! I told you I'd be speaking to you again soon! And for those of you who aren't aware of the big surprise in the Chapel, I highly advise you to see the notice posted up on the bulletin board to be caught up on our recent events!"

The Head Doctor laughed warmly, but the impression it gave was newer, different than usual.

This time, people could picture it.

"In any case, I believe I've already spoken quite enough this morning, so I'll get right to the point! We have a new batch of patients ready to be introduced: That is, Colin Noble, William Berret, Corwin Piers, Ethan O'Dell, Darryl Jones, Alice Rhodes, Amelia McCraig, Jennifer Hill, Aubrey Hill, and Jun Moreau."

He sighed, seemed to shake his head.

"Phew! Quite a few new faces, eh? I'm sure you'll make them feel welcome, especially in the setting of our lovely Landel's All-You-Can-Eat Brunch! Yes, that's right! You get one plate that you can pile up with as much as you fit on it, as many times as you like! Of course, you may get stopped if a nurse feels you're eating far too much for your health! Hahaha..."

The sound of some papers being shuffled could be heard.

"Ah! Here we are. Our selection includes: A wide variety of cereals, granola, and low fat milk to put it in! If you'd like to add some fruit to your cereal, we have bananas, apples, oranges, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, grapes, and raisins. We also offer chocolate milk, orange juice, apple juice, cranberry juice, and water as far as drinks go. Of course, I'm sure many of you want to know about the heartier selection, and here it is: Waffles, pancakes, french toast, bagels, sausages, sausage patties, bacon, hash browns, and scrambled eggs! For those of you looking for the 'unch' part of 'brunch,' we offer hamburgers with an assortment of toppings, hot dogs with chili available, beef burritos, chicken burritos, rice, and beans."

He took a contemplative breath, then continued.

"Oh, and... contrary to popular belief, we do monitor the Bulletin Board, and we see that there has been some dissatisfaction towards our choice of cuisine expressed by some members of the patient body. However, Mr. Kyle Brothers, due to the foul language and cowardly anonymity you attempted to use when making such a request, such a wish will not be granted at this time, and will be held pending on your good behavior and reformation. Additional patients who wish to be served that food type, perhaps you'd help encourage good behavior in Mr. Brothers? Thank you!"

A pause.

"We will, however, be serving Earl Grey tea, ramen, and a dessert of strawberry cake, as they were requested without unnecessary rudeness. Perhaps, Mr. Brothers, you could learn from their example."

The Head Doctor seemed to sit in satisfaction over appropriateness of his punishment before he gave a sigh and finished his announcement.

"I believe that covers everything for now! Have a wonderful brunch."

The intercom sounded off.