Night 59: West Wing, South Hall 1-A

[bastard_sadi]

[Coming from here.]

Daemon glided out into the wider corridor and paused for a moment, letting Renji join him, taking a moment to probe the shadows with his senses, looking for anything out of the norm. There was a tingle down his spine, the sensation of being watched, though he couldn't find its exact location, just the knowledge that it was

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[age_of_kings]

"Yes..."

Tolten wet his lips, eyes flicking nervously about him despite his determination to keep them straight. Whatever had happened here had been a slaughter. He felt as though he were walking through that battlefield, the one in the amphitheater. Gore and viscera and the dying had been all around him, some even by his own hand in desperate self defense, and the smell of it....

He closed his eyes and wished he had a handkerchief to cover his nose and mouth with. He wanted to take a steadying breath of air but he didn't dare ingest a lungful of the fetid foulness. He couldn't express his thanks enough to have Locke with him, to not have to wander these halls alone anymore. And to face this horror with. He doubted he could do it without a companion, or even a harsher one....

"Locke..." he said, suddenly. He stopped and cocked his head to the side, listening. There was that noise again. Scrambling on tile, like a dog trying to get its footing. And some sort of...harsh noise. Like a radio when it wasn't tuned properly. "I think there's something coming up behind us."

Trying to run would be stupid. The halls were slick with blood and they didn't know quite where they were running to. Locke had said he had them covered, and Tolten had his pipe already held and poised as he would a sword. At least they could prepare to meet whatever stalked them head on.

[kings_thief]

Locke was doing his best not to gag on the smell, letting his other sense take priority and push past the discomfort, but it was hard. The sounds, as unpleasant as they were themselves, helped his attempts.

"I hear it.." Turning, he searched the hall with his eyes, bringing the flashlight up a bit more in an effort to see what was approaching them. "I'll bet you anything it's not friendly, either"

With the possibility of a threat came a rush of energy and what felt like electricity in his veins. Even if he didn't have an actual weapon to brandish, he felt ready for whatever was coming for them.

"Maybe a little warning is all it needs..." Feeling the electricity crackle in his hands, Locke extended his hand and watched, more than a little pleased, as the yellow lightening arched from his hand to the ceiling further down the hall. Hopefully, whatever was down there would be scared off...and if not, at least they'd be able to get a proper look at it.

[age_of_kings]

"You're a mage!"

Despite the horror surrounding them and the unknown threat approaching, Tolten couldn't hide his sheer delight at realizing he had accomplished his very first goal set in this place. Find a mage.

Everything was fitting into place now. He had a weapon. He had a mage at his side. And what was coming upon them was most likely a monster. This was all familiar and - in a strange way - comforting.

The young king watched the lightning spring forth and leap down the hall, illuminating it. The walls and floor shined slick and sickly for a moment and then...then he saw it.

A small, deformed looking creature, all head and teeth and giant yellow eyes full of evil. Oh gods, oh gods, oh gods. It skittered away from the light with surprising speed, and Tolten only saw a flash, but it was enough. It was as bad as the things in the sewer. All of his fears were true.

Whatever it was, it clung to the shadows as it came, the sound of its claws on the floor letting them know it was coming fast along the right side of the hall. Tolten leapt to stand beside Locke, his pipe before him and his eyes scanning the place the sounds came from.

"Can you do that again?" It wasn't very big. If Locke hit it directly....

[kings_thief]

Locke didn't have time to correct his friend-although he supposed, on some level, Tolten wasn't wrong-it just wasn't what he considered himself. Instead, he fixed his eyes on the creature, trying to follow where it could be by sound even as darkness settled again. It wasn't anything he could recognize, so he could assume it wasn't native of his home world, but he hadn't gotten a clear view, either; it could be anything.

"Yeah, I can do it again, in fact, I can do better." Now that he had an idea of where it was, he could risk a little more power to ensure his spell hit. Summoning the electricity again, he extended both of his hands and watched as several bolts leapt forward towards the approaching monster. As long as one of them hit, that should be enough to do a significant amount of damage.

Although he didn't regret protecting himself or Tolten, he couldn't help but hope that the thing wasn't sentient or, at least, died quickly. He never had liked killing monsters that were like regular animals.

[age_of_kings]

The light illuminated the creature once more. Tolten wished he could look away, to tear his eyes from the hunched, armless thing. It's eyes! How could anything have eyes that large and still have a mind? The thought flashed through his head without much note, though, as the creature let out a painful screech and was flung back by one of Locke's bolts.

The thing flipped back and landed with a sound like dozens of crunching twigs. It didn't get back up, though it was moving. Tolten wasted no time taking the opportunity. He threw himself forward, pipe raised over his head. He swung it once and brought it down with a sickening crunch. The thing - looking at it this close, he would never dare call it anything else - twitched and chittered and jerked on the floor. There were lumps beneath its sickly gray skin, like...like the bones had broken inside it's skin. The young king had to look away, his gorge rising.

"Oh god it's terrible..."

[kings_thief]

Locke flinched when Tolten hit it, but he only felt pity for the thing. He didn't know if it was 'evil' or not, but he had a feeling, like with most monsters, it was mainly acting out of instinct. Besides, it was easier to blame this place for keeping such a thing here than to blmae the creature for attacking.

Getting as close as he felt comfortable, he called his magic again, casting a weak fire spell to get rid of the creature entirely. At least no one else would be able to stumble upon the grotesque sight; although, the flames didn't make the smell any better and he couldn't help but bring a hand to his nose.

Quietly, he stepped away and put a hand on his friend's shoulder, nodding in the direction they were headed before. "Let's go ahead and get moving...maybe there won't be anymore. After all...clearly, we're not the only ones to have run into something."

[age_of_kings]

Tolten had to look away. It was the burning. And the blood. And the fighting. Good god, he had thought this was all behind him!

He looked up at Locke's hand on his shoulder, both shamed and touched at once. He hated to show his weaknesses and his softness. But he couldn't help it, not in the face of pure horror. But the show of friendship, of camaraderie... Tolten hadn't felt that since coming to this place. There were people he was fond of, certainly, but....

"Yes. Yes you're right. And someone ahead of us seems to be doing a...a very good job of taking care of what's ahead of us."

He covered Locke's hand with his own and gave it a squeeze. "Thank you."

[kings_thief]

He smiled sportively, no way did he think badly of Tolten's reaction, he'd been the same way while he and the others had been climbing Kefka's tower. That was one place he never wanted to visit again...although the halls of Landel's was beginning to parody it in a very uncomfortable way.

"Of course. I wish I could tell you I could just warp us there, but I gotta know where I'm going for that to work, so it looks like we're walking." Worse than time, that meant the chance for more monsters, but they didn't have any other options.

"The hall up ahead and then upstairs, yeah? You'll be able to get us there from then, right?" He thought he knew, he'd always been good with maps, but if he could get his companion to think about where they were headed, maybe that would be enough to keep his mind off of what they had fought.

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