Erika really couldn't thank that girl enough - not really for the pitiful healing, as her body still screamed in pain as she laboriously threw herself into the hallway. No, it was because she bothered to use her "power" in the first place. Suddenly, it made sense, everything made sense! Why her detective's authority had been revoked to begin with, why she couldn't use it up until last night, and perhaps it would even explain how that idiot Aguilar had been able to revoke a right that was not his. Perhaps she was no longer... No, she never was the detective of the board. It made sense that she would be able to get this sort of strange intuition now, something that normally would be forbidden.
"Hah... I'll show you... I'll find that device and smash it. And then you'll see what the true power of the detective is. Aguilaaaar!"
It was a good thing she kept most of her mad rants to herself, otherwise she might have missed the intercom announcement. Since Erika had been with the girl during the time the radio had broadcasted, it seemed she had no idea that the radio broadcast even existed, but the intercom... That, she heard. And she did not care for it. There was no way that Aguilar was stupid enough to give her such a massive clue like this and then tell her conveniently where to go. It had to be somewhere else, so his stupid story about traitors and what-not meant nothing to her.
Thanks to her wretched state, it was clear that she wasn't going to get much of anywhere herself. As long as she was injured, she needed someone to guarantee her safety. Anyone. They would probably be interested in going upstairs, but there had to be someone who would listen to her. Erika searched, not even concerned with the strange drug she had been injected with earlier; if anything, it appeared like she had forgotten all about it.
It'd been a good move to bring his own radio tonight, the device tucked in the back of his pants so that he could catch any announcements if their 'helpers' decided to bother with the thing. But instead of anything remotely useful the God-General's planning had rewarded him with nothing more than an earful of whining, quietly rolling his eyes as he continued his way down the hallway. How typical it was to have their 'saviors' be so incompetent, and Sync had learned long ago that the only person he could expect to get anything done was himself.
Yet thoughts of the Medical Wing evaporated when he caught sight of someone exiting the female patient blocks. For a moment the God-General was forced to stare, wondering if his eyes were deceiving him or if the latter had really chosen to forgo that gaudy dress of her and wear something inconspicuous for once. He'd lowered his flashlight at that point in an attempt to keep his presence as unnoticeable as possible until he got close enough for a real look.
The long blue hair said it all, really, and it wasn't long before the replica's lips twisted into an amused smirk before making his way over and stopping a yard or so away. Whether it would be worth it to bother stopping in the first place was undetermined for now, but he just couldn't say no to rubbing Erika's loss right in her face.
"I didn't think they'd revive you so soon," He began, tone making it quite obvious that he knew it'd turn out this way from the start.
/scream THIS IS SO HIDEOUSwitchdetectiveSeptember 18 2011, 22:17:03 UTC
It figured that Sync would be the first person she would see. Erika had grown to be a little too dependent on him as a substitute for Dlanor, since he had the strange tendency to show up exactly when she needed him. Therefore, it was easy for her to mistake him as an ally of sorts, however tenuous their supposed "partnership" actually was. Yet the moment he sneered at her, Erika knew that he was absolutely none of those things that made Dlanor so reliable, even if she was useless in her own way: At least Dlanor could be commanded to keep her stupid mouth shut.
The only thing that kept Erika from raging at Sync was her immense pain keeping her from doing anything too violent, but she supposed it was also the fact that although he had led her to that place to watch her die, he knew she would have been revived. Now Erika knew why Sync was willing to go through a trial he did before and it had nothing to do with accomplishing anything. He simply wanted a diversion from his boredom. If that was the case, then it was fitting revenge to rope him into a wild goose chase for the rest of the night, wasn't it?
If anything, if they did manage to accomplish something, then Erika could get her just revenge once she was able to regain her power... So it worked out just fine. Well done, Sync, but she wasn't going to let him get away with it.
"Oh yeah? I thought you would have a more heartfelt greeting for me when I returned, since you'd be so lonely tonight without me," The ex-detective spat, looking at Sync with as much venom in her eyes as there was in her voice. She stalked towards him and made a move to grab his arm, to both get his attention and make sure he would stay put and listen to what she had to say. There was no way he would let it slide; Erika knew Sync well enough to know that he was bored, so the information she had now would be very interesting to him.
"Especially since I went through all the trouble of finding out something really interesting for you, wouldn't you want to hear it...?"
As soon as her fingers brushed against his shoulder though, something very strange happened. Even stranger then the incident back in her room, where she was both a witness to "magic" and gained some strange knowledge. No, Erika could say that this was both the strangest and luckiest thing that ever happened to her this night, and perhaps a sign that she hadn't been forgotten by the master of this board after all.
Touching Sync's arm caused a very pleasurable sensation to ripple down Erika's arm and through the rest of her body, like a sudden burst of euphoria. It felt like she had just been given the strongest of painkillers, for a brief moment, and she shivered at how suddenly the pain in her body was flushed out by waves of pleasure. The feeling withered as quickly as it came, but Erika was so stunned that her hand dropped and she stared at Sync with a strange look on her face.
lmao i can't.ran_on_emptySeptember 20 2011, 01:21:59 UTC
If there was one thing that Erika never failed at it was finding ways to amuse him, and now was no exception with all those emotions running through her. Most would've thought it was too cruel to pull an ignorant group along a set of trials just for his own entertainment. Yet Erika was hardly innocent, and if her overall attitude about everything around could be a considered a hint then he could confidently say that she deserved what came to her.
"Are you kidding me? I was looking forward to having a night where I didn't have to deal with your stupid face." And it was certainly true, because even now he could just run off and leave the latter to fend for herself. But whether it was all just part of Erika's fabrication or if there really was a piece of information important enough to share it to an obvious enemy, Sync didn't see much reason not to stay behind for at least a few more minutes. After all, the worst she could do was just lead him to his death.
And of course he saw her come towards him, but before the God-General could even react something happened that left him almost as confused as the one experiencing it. He watched her expression shift the moment she brushed against his shoulder, that venomous glare dissolving to a bizarre mixture of surprise and relief, leaving him perplexed and vaguely annoyed by the time she removed her hand. However, his irritation and confusion only grew when she did it again, not bothering to hide the fact that she was obviously enjoying this.
i'm a very serious RPer.witchdetectiveSeptember 20 2011, 01:58:02 UTC
Normally, by now Erika would have matched Sync's little tit-for-tat and continued to argue with him until she finally felt like sharing her information with him. But now was completely different: Her hand remained on Sync's shoulder, despite his obvious objection. The dreamy look on Erika's face took awhile to fade away as she enjoyed this moment without pain. It probably was telling how strong the sensation of pleasure was since she was taking the risk of even more grievous bodily harm to keep the sensation going.
But she hadn't completely lost it; she definitely heard Sync, but made no move to remove her hand. Not only did it do wonders for her pain, but she wanted to test something. So it was almost like she was waiting for Sync to bat her hand away, and until then, she felt like telling him about the knowledge she received thanks to Aigis. Surely, that would be a good enough "payment" for letting her take advantage of this very surreal moment.
Besides, his reaction was priceless: It was like Sync's annoyance could only add to her good mood. What better revenge then this?
"... Like I said, I have something interesting to tell you," Erika grinned, looking extremely pleased (for obvious reasons). "It has to do with the way Aguilar is able to suppress all of our natural powers." It was then that Erika looked at Sync for a moment, as if gauging if this really would be of interest to him or not. After all, that would depend on one fact that she had been assuming for quite some time now.
"Of course, I suppose you'll only need to hear it if it applies to you, right? If there's nothing special about you, then I don't need to tell you."
Erika had been thinking it for awhile now: Sync was physically skilled, to the point where he could probably travel through the Institute mostly unhindered. She had seen a firsthand demonstration of that a few nights ago, so it was entirely possible that Sync didn't have anything "special" about him. No power augmentations, no strange magic, no angelic grace, nothing. That was just fine for Erika, who only needed her detective's authority to boss him around. So really, this sort of information could very well be entirely useless to him.
The detective might have thought about that more if she wasn't distracted, idly drumming her fingers against Sync's shoulder and enjoying the bursts of warmth that came from each touch. Really, what was this?
no stop............ran_on_emptySeptember 20 2011, 15:00:04 UTC
If Erika was expecting some retaliation then she received exactly that when Sync reached out to grab her wrist. However, he didn't pull her hand away just yet, barely managing to push his annoyance aside in order to listen to her words objectively. Throughout the week or so he's known her it'd been easy to pick up certain traits when he bothered to look in the first place, one of which included her relationship with information.
Erika was far too arrogant to purposely let any lie dictate her words, and that was reason enough to believe that she truly did have some important fact to share. And of course it intrigued him, almost to the point of letting go and allowing her to indulge her strange and stupid behavior for a little while longer. But while that were the case the God-General managed to look at least partially indifferent, grip tightening as if warning her that she better not be wasting his time.
Had he not experienced his recovery in the Coliseum he would've been less likely to believe that he could even associate himself with the possibility. Yet his fight with Guy signified that the symbol he previously bore on his chest still existed, somehow connected to what was suppressing the abilities of everyone else in this Institute. If anything, it didn't matter to him to share this fact with Erika, who possessed something that didn't even exist back in his own world.
But it was strange. Just how exactly did she come across something this important? Sync watched her closely before raising an eyebrow, visibly unimpressed for now.
"And how exactly did you manage to get this information?"
but you feel so nice............. [gays]witchdetectiveSeptember 20 2011, 16:18:06 UTC
The action of Sync grabbing her wrist should have caused pain, but it did quite the opposite and it showed on Erika's face as she just grinned in a manner that... could only be described as kind of creepy. Her facial expression really didn't leave much to the imagination, after all. However, it was said that too much pleasure and too much pain was the same feeling, and Erika was starting to understand this as her expression changed into one of discomfort and making a show of trying to wriggle her wrist of his grip in the slightest.
... But even this was simply to show Sync that she got the message. And it wasn't because she was actually worried: Erika had already decided that this could very well be her last night here, if those drugs did irreversible damage to her. There was no way she was going to squander her final chance at revenge and destroy the one who set her up for all of this in the first place. If she was going to go down, someone was going to suffer with her.
"And how exactly is it going to benefit you?" Erika parroted back, but she looked like she had already given up on keeping her "precious" information with him. There was a place where she could lead him... It was only fitting that they went back there. After all, a first rate detective knows exactly where to find the crime scene...
Gambling her chances on so many assumptions and unknown things was truly a thing of the Ushiromiya family and that miserable witch Beatrice, but Erika wasn't like that at all. She had already planned this during this brief amount of time, spinning a beautiful, terrible lie that was sure to at least let her die with satisfaction.
"Alright, fine. Let's just say that in this weird place, even the losers benefit. Perhaps breaking up information is one of the ways Aguilar likes to promote teamwork among the patients."
She looked at him expectantly, as if waiting for him to confirm that he was following what she was saying. Also, she really did hope that he would let go of her soon because it really was starting to feel very unpleasant...
[fandom]ran_on_emptySeptember 21 2011, 15:22:05 UTC
"How do you think it's going to benefit me?" Honestly, what kind of question was that? However, the night was still young and he wasn't in too much of a rush to squeeze that information out of her, though it seemed as if Erika couldn't refrain from telling him any longer. He listened to her words, keeping an open mind out of principle, but it was hard to find it believable even given the circumstances.
Sync could only roll his eyes, giving her wrist one more squeeze before pushing it away from him.
"You've got to be kidding me." Why would Aguilar bother telling the loser that kind of information, and why would he bother creating an opportunity to rebuild the teamwork that should've crumbled after the fact? The look on Sync's face made it obvious that he thought it was far-fetched enough as is, spending a moment to linger on what to say next.
"But fine, let's say I actually believed you for a second," He tacked on at last, adding to the 'rhetorical' theme just for the sake of it; a signal for her to continue as she pleased.
Poor, stupid Sync. Even when he thought she was lying through her teeth, he was still willing to indulge her. Of course he would. Erika knew that so far, she had been correct with everything she theorized, and Sync knew that, since he'd been on the receiving end of so many of her theories. It would have been foolish for anyone to suspect she was lying now, which was what made the act so easy.
"Yes, why would he? Don't you think it has something to do with what Landel did a few nights ago, when he opened those doors down in the basement for everyone?" She pointed to Sync's radio, as if reminding the boy where they heard it. She also remembered how Sync had staggered, however slightly, when Landel snapped his fingers. It seemed like she was trying to kill several birds with one stone, thinking a place that was down there in that accursed basement was sufficiently dangerous enough to kill them both.
The theory that Erika had formed in her mind to explain herself was so good that even she was a little disappointed that it was all based on false lies, because she really wanted to know if her hunch was right or not. Oh well, perhaps if she were to be brought back again as a piece, she would be able to tackle a grand, if improper, mystery like this place once more.
"Here's what I'm saying: Aguilar doesn't even know all of the tricks that run this Institute, and Landel does. Those doors lead to a place that not even Aguilar knows about, so doesn't it make sense that there might be something very valuable hidden there? Remember, our powers were suppressed long before Aguilar even came here. It must be very inconvenient for him to not know exactly where the machine that keeps us all down is, much less how it works. And since he can't even trust his own men, that leaves us to do the dirty work for him."
Erika's eyes practically twinkled at the magnificent theory she had thought up. Damn, maybe she was actually going somewhere with this. The intentional lie had spun into a truth that might actually have some basis. Naturally, Erika's precious time for reasoning had distracted her from both the pain and pleasure she was feeling from her senses, and from her extreme hatred for Sync and everyone else in this godforsaken asylum. For now, anyway.
"If Aguilar only wanted one person to go after it, it makes sense that he would only tell the winner this. For all I know, Gabriel knows it as well. Perhaps that place, as well as the others, requires a certain amount of people to challenge it. Simply because of those basement doors, this level of reasoning is possible for Furudo Erika."
It seemed like Erika had become wrapped up in her own lie, or at least, she certainly looked convinced that the theory she just presented to Sync was the correct one.
Understandably, having been so busy to lead a group of idiots to the Coliseum had pulled his attention away from the actual 'prize' of getting through in the first place. With all other distractions out of the way (aside from the obvious mistake that was standing right next to him), Sync was now able to focus on a part of the Institute that he doubted more than a handful were even aware of. Yes, he'd caught the signs back when they actually took place, though the lag that had stretched between his victory and his reward were also taken note of.
Why then? Why hadn't Landel bothered to grant them access through those doors earlier, when there was obvious interest in exploring the basement in the first place? If nothing else, it better be damn important to bother with now that he was 'gone' from the grounds. While he was caught in his own thoughts, a part of him was still listening to Erika's explanation. He didn't care at all about stroking her ego, not bothering to look even the least bit impressed with her explanation. However, with everything laid out before them, there may have been some truth to the latter's words after all.
"Most people wouldn't bother going back to the place they died," Sync began with a sneer, implying out loud that Erika was either fearless or brainless. But if she had a death wish then he certainly wouldn't deny her right to indulge, even if he likely had to put in more effort just to see it again. "But you've got to be pretty confident if you want to revisit it that badly."
And of course she wanted to revisit if she was bothering to mention it in the first place. While he had no intention of immediately returning to the basement at first, he had the foresight to reset the ring in case the next trial was met with unsatisfactory results. But because they were able to complete that and the Coliseum, it gave them a bit of an advantage to be able to start their exploration while it was still early during the night. By then he'd reached into the pocket of his uniform, pulling out the ring and slipping it on the appropriate finger.
The moment Erika saw Sync withdraw the ring from his pocket, she already knew she had won. So she only sneered back when he had "invited" her to come along and test her theory, making it clear that was her intention by grabbing his arm in response. And then, yet again, the expression on her face changed from a competitive one to a pleased one as she shuddered again. No doubt, Sync was going to ditch her simply because of this at some point, but it felt nice, so she didn't care.
Still, Erika managed to regain most of mental functions to let Sync's various insults towards her slide off her back. What did she care what this worthless piece thought of her anyway? He was the idiot who actually believed her.
"If death isn't permanent here, then there's no point in worrying about it," was all she replied to that, as an 'explanation' for why she was even bothering with the basement in the first place. Indeed, if Aguilar was actually able to put her back together after she suffered that sort of fate, then she could more or less conclude that it was up to the whims of the Game Master to revive dead pieces. In that case, perhaps it was pointless to try and kill Sync after all... It seemed like once Erika realized the implications of what she was saying, she grew a little displeased at the thought of her efforts already being a waste, but it was too late to protest now.
Besides, she could get him back well enough by simply being near him. It wasn't like Erika didn't notice that she thoroughly annoyed him just by being in his presence, since it was a talent of hers, so she started to rub his arm and enjoy the bursts of feeling she got from doing so. Ah, was this the effect of that strange drug?
"Suit yourself." So Erika's logic was that the ends justified the means, even if it meant dying repetitively in the process. Once again, Sync wasn't going to deny the latter her wish if she wanted to repeat her fate so badly, but for all he knew something productive may actually come out of this little mission of sorts.
He didn't bother to hide his look of vague disgust at the obvious pleasure she was experiencing just by touching him. He was going to have to inquire more about that once they reached their destination, but that involved working towards it in the first place. Knowing he could just slap her away as much as he pleased once they arrived at the basement, Sync turned to face the wall before pulling his arm back and giving it a solid punch.
The jewel immediately shattered on contact, and like any other time the floor seemingly dropped beneath them before everything was enveloped in darkness.
Erika really couldn't thank that girl enough - not really for the pitiful healing, as her body still screamed in pain as she laboriously threw herself into the hallway. No, it was because she bothered to use her "power" in the first place. Suddenly, it made sense, everything made sense! Why her detective's authority had been revoked to begin with, why she couldn't use it up until last night, and perhaps it would even explain how that idiot Aguilar had been able to revoke a right that was not his. Perhaps she was no longer... No, she never was the detective of the board. It made sense that she would be able to get this sort of strange intuition now, something that normally would be forbidden.
"Hah... I'll show you... I'll find that device and smash it. And then you'll see what the true power of the detective is. Aguilaaaar!"
It was a good thing she kept most of her mad rants to herself, otherwise she might have missed the intercom announcement. Since Erika had been with the girl during the time the radio had broadcasted, it seemed she had no idea that the radio broadcast even existed, but the intercom... That, she heard. And she did not care for it. There was no way that Aguilar was stupid enough to give her such a massive clue like this and then tell her conveniently where to go. It had to be somewhere else, so his stupid story about traitors and what-not meant nothing to her.
Thanks to her wretched state, it was clear that she wasn't going to get much of anywhere herself. As long as she was injured, she needed someone to guarantee her safety. Anyone. They would probably be interested in going upstairs, but there had to be someone who would listen to her. Erika searched, not even concerned with the strange drug she had been injected with earlier; if anything, it appeared like she had forgotten all about it.
[ c'mere sync... ]
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Yet thoughts of the Medical Wing evaporated when he caught sight of someone exiting the female patient blocks. For a moment the God-General was forced to stare, wondering if his eyes were deceiving him or if the latter had really chosen to forgo that gaudy dress of her and wear something inconspicuous for once. He'd lowered his flashlight at that point in an attempt to keep his presence as unnoticeable as possible until he got close enough for a real look.
The long blue hair said it all, really, and it wasn't long before the replica's lips twisted into an amused smirk before making his way over and stopping a yard or so away. Whether it would be worth it to bother stopping in the first place was undetermined for now, but he just couldn't say no to rubbing Erika's loss right in her face.
"I didn't think they'd revive you so soon," He began, tone making it quite obvious that he knew it'd turn out this way from the start.
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The only thing that kept Erika from raging at Sync was her immense pain keeping her from doing anything too violent, but she supposed it was also the fact that although he had led her to that place to watch her die, he knew she would have been revived. Now Erika knew why Sync was willing to go through a trial he did before and it had nothing to do with accomplishing anything. He simply wanted a diversion from his boredom. If that was the case, then it was fitting revenge to rope him into a wild goose chase for the rest of the night, wasn't it?
If anything, if they did manage to accomplish something, then Erika could get her just revenge once she was able to regain her power... So it worked out just fine. Well done, Sync, but she wasn't going to let him get away with it.
"Oh yeah? I thought you would have a more heartfelt greeting for me when I returned, since you'd be so lonely tonight without me," The ex-detective spat, looking at Sync with as much venom in her eyes as there was in her voice. She stalked towards him and made a move to grab his arm, to both get his attention and make sure he would stay put and listen to what she had to say. There was no way he would let it slide; Erika knew Sync well enough to know that he was bored, so the information she had now would be very interesting to him.
"Especially since I went through all the trouble of finding out something really interesting for you, wouldn't you want to hear it...?"
As soon as her fingers brushed against his shoulder though, something very strange happened. Even stranger then the incident back in her room, where she was both a witness to "magic" and gained some strange knowledge. No, Erika could say that this was both the strangest and luckiest thing that ever happened to her this night, and perhaps a sign that she hadn't been forgotten by the master of this board after all.
Touching Sync's arm caused a very pleasurable sensation to ripple down Erika's arm and through the rest of her body, like a sudden burst of euphoria. It felt like she had just been given the strongest of painkillers, for a brief moment, and she shivered at how suddenly the pain in her body was flushed out by waves of pleasure. The feeling withered as quickly as it came, but Erika was so stunned that her hand dropped and she stared at Sync with a strange look on her face.
And then she touched him again.
"Ah..."
Who was she to argue with a good thing?
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"Are you kidding me? I was looking forward to having a night where I didn't have to deal with your stupid face." And it was certainly true, because even now he could just run off and leave the latter to fend for herself. But whether it was all just part of Erika's fabrication or if there really was a piece of information important enough to share it to an obvious enemy, Sync didn't see much reason not to stay behind for at least a few more minutes. After all, the worst she could do was just lead him to his death.
And of course he saw her come towards him, but before the God-General could even react something happened that left him almost as confused as the one experiencing it. He watched her expression shift the moment she brushed against his shoulder, that venomous glare dissolving to a bizarre mixture of surprise and relief, leaving him perplexed and vaguely annoyed by the time she removed her hand. However, his irritation and confusion only grew when she did it again, not bothering to hide the fact that she was obviously enjoying this.
"What the hell are you doing?"
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But she hadn't completely lost it; she definitely heard Sync, but made no move to remove her hand. Not only did it do wonders for her pain, but she wanted to test something. So it was almost like she was waiting for Sync to bat her hand away, and until then, she felt like telling him about the knowledge she received thanks to Aigis. Surely, that would be a good enough "payment" for letting her take advantage of this very surreal moment.
Besides, his reaction was priceless: It was like Sync's annoyance could only add to her good mood. What better revenge then this?
"... Like I said, I have something interesting to tell you," Erika grinned, looking extremely pleased (for obvious reasons). "It has to do with the way Aguilar is able to suppress all of our natural powers." It was then that Erika looked at Sync for a moment, as if gauging if this really would be of interest to him or not. After all, that would depend on one fact that she had been assuming for quite some time now.
"Of course, I suppose you'll only need to hear it if it applies to you, right? If there's nothing special about you, then I don't need to tell you."
Erika had been thinking it for awhile now: Sync was physically skilled, to the point where he could probably travel through the Institute mostly unhindered. She had seen a firsthand demonstration of that a few nights ago, so it was entirely possible that Sync didn't have anything "special" about him. No power augmentations, no strange magic, no angelic grace, nothing. That was just fine for Erika, who only needed her detective's authority to boss him around. So really, this sort of information could very well be entirely useless to him.
The detective might have thought about that more if she wasn't distracted, idly drumming her fingers against Sync's shoulder and enjoying the bursts of warmth that came from each touch. Really, what was this?
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Erika was far too arrogant to purposely let any lie dictate her words, and that was reason enough to believe that she truly did have some important fact to share. And of course it intrigued him, almost to the point of letting go and allowing her to indulge her strange and stupid behavior for a little while longer. But while that were the case the God-General managed to look at least partially indifferent, grip tightening as if warning her that she better not be wasting his time.
Had he not experienced his recovery in the Coliseum he would've been less likely to believe that he could even associate himself with the possibility. Yet his fight with Guy signified that the symbol he previously bore on his chest still existed, somehow connected to what was suppressing the abilities of everyone else in this Institute. If anything, it didn't matter to him to share this fact with Erika, who possessed something that didn't even exist back in his own world.
But it was strange. Just how exactly did she come across something this important? Sync watched her closely before raising an eyebrow, visibly unimpressed for now.
"And how exactly did you manage to get this information?"
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... But even this was simply to show Sync that she got the message. And it wasn't because she was actually worried: Erika had already decided that this could very well be her last night here, if those drugs did irreversible damage to her. There was no way she was going to squander her final chance at revenge and destroy the one who set her up for all of this in the first place. If she was going to go down, someone was going to suffer with her.
"And how exactly is it going to benefit you?" Erika parroted back, but she looked like she had already given up on keeping her "precious" information with him. There was a place where she could lead him... It was only fitting that they went back there. After all, a first rate detective knows exactly where to find the crime scene...
Gambling her chances on so many assumptions and unknown things was truly a thing of the Ushiromiya family and that miserable witch Beatrice, but Erika wasn't like that at all. She had already planned this during this brief amount of time, spinning a beautiful, terrible lie that was sure to at least let her die with satisfaction.
"Alright, fine. Let's just say that in this weird place, even the losers benefit. Perhaps breaking up information is one of the ways Aguilar likes to promote teamwork among the patients."
She looked at him expectantly, as if waiting for him to confirm that he was following what she was saying. Also, she really did hope that he would let go of her soon because it really was starting to feel very unpleasant...
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Sync could only roll his eyes, giving her wrist one more squeeze before pushing it away from him.
"You've got to be kidding me." Why would Aguilar bother telling the loser that kind of information, and why would he bother creating an opportunity to rebuild the teamwork that should've crumbled after the fact? The look on Sync's face made it obvious that he thought it was far-fetched enough as is, spending a moment to linger on what to say next.
"But fine, let's say I actually believed you for a second," He tacked on at last, adding to the 'rhetorical' theme just for the sake of it; a signal for her to continue as she pleased.
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"Yes, why would he? Don't you think it has something to do with what Landel did a few nights ago, when he opened those doors down in the basement for everyone?" She pointed to Sync's radio, as if reminding the boy where they heard it. She also remembered how Sync had staggered, however slightly, when Landel snapped his fingers. It seemed like she was trying to kill several birds with one stone, thinking a place that was down there in that accursed basement was sufficiently dangerous enough to kill them both.
The theory that Erika had formed in her mind to explain herself was so good that even she was a little disappointed that it was all based on false lies, because she really wanted to know if her hunch was right or not. Oh well, perhaps if she were to be brought back again as a piece, she would be able to tackle a grand, if improper, mystery like this place once more.
"Here's what I'm saying: Aguilar doesn't even know all of the tricks that run this Institute, and Landel does. Those doors lead to a place that not even Aguilar knows about, so doesn't it make sense that there might be something very valuable hidden there? Remember, our powers were suppressed long before Aguilar even came here. It must be very inconvenient for him to not know exactly where the machine that keeps us all down is, much less how it works. And since he can't even trust his own men, that leaves us to do the dirty work for him."
Erika's eyes practically twinkled at the magnificent theory she had thought up. Damn, maybe she was actually going somewhere with this. The intentional lie had spun into a truth that might actually have some basis. Naturally, Erika's precious time for reasoning had distracted her from both the pain and pleasure she was feeling from her senses, and from her extreme hatred for Sync and everyone else in this godforsaken asylum. For now, anyway.
"If Aguilar only wanted one person to go after it, it makes sense that he would only tell the winner this. For all I know, Gabriel knows it as well. Perhaps that place, as well as the others, requires a certain amount of people to challenge it. Simply because of those basement doors, this level of reasoning is possible for Furudo Erika."
It seemed like Erika had become wrapped up in her own lie, or at least, she certainly looked convinced that the theory she just presented to Sync was the correct one.
"What do you think, Sync?"
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Why then? Why hadn't Landel bothered to grant them access through those doors earlier, when there was obvious interest in exploring the basement in the first place? If nothing else, it better be damn important to bother with now that he was 'gone' from the grounds. While he was caught in his own thoughts, a part of him was still listening to Erika's explanation. He didn't care at all about stroking her ego, not bothering to look even the least bit impressed with her explanation. However, with everything laid out before them, there may have been some truth to the latter's words after all.
"Most people wouldn't bother going back to the place they died," Sync began with a sneer, implying out loud that Erika was either fearless or brainless. But if she had a death wish then he certainly wouldn't deny her right to indulge, even if he likely had to put in more effort just to see it again. "But you've got to be pretty confident if you want to revisit it that badly."
And of course she wanted to revisit if she was bothering to mention it in the first place. While he had no intention of immediately returning to the basement at first, he had the foresight to reset the ring in case the next trial was met with unsatisfactory results. But because they were able to complete that and the Coliseum, it gave them a bit of an advantage to be able to start their exploration while it was still early during the night. By then he'd reached into the pocket of his uniform, pulling out the ring and slipping it on the appropriate finger.
"Willing to test that theory of yours?"
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Still, Erika managed to regain most of mental functions to let Sync's various insults towards her slide off her back. What did she care what this worthless piece thought of her anyway? He was the idiot who actually believed her.
"If death isn't permanent here, then there's no point in worrying about it," was all she replied to that, as an 'explanation' for why she was even bothering with the basement in the first place. Indeed, if Aguilar was actually able to put her back together after she suffered that sort of fate, then she could more or less conclude that it was up to the whims of the Game Master to revive dead pieces. In that case, perhaps it was pointless to try and kill Sync after all... It seemed like once Erika realized the implications of what she was saying, she grew a little displeased at the thought of her efforts already being a waste, but it was too late to protest now.
Besides, she could get him back well enough by simply being near him. It wasn't like Erika didn't notice that she thoroughly annoyed him just by being in his presence, since it was a talent of hers, so she started to rub his arm and enjoy the bursts of feeling she got from doing so. Ah, was this the effect of that strange drug?
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He didn't bother to hide his look of vague disgust at the obvious pleasure she was experiencing just by touching him. He was going to have to inquire more about that once they reached their destination, but that involved working towards it in the first place. Knowing he could just slap her away as much as he pleased once they arrived at the basement, Sync turned to face the wall before pulling his arm back and giving it a solid punch.
The jewel immediately shattered on contact, and like any other time the floor seemingly dropped beneath them before everything was enveloped in darkness.
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