Day 60: Cafeteria

[gald_digger]

Anise had been lying snug in bed, only vaguely aware that she was awake, when her rest was disturbed by the one sound in the world she'd never wanted to hear again.

"Good morning, everyone!"

The girl's eyes shot open and she immediately sat up straight. There was no doubt about it. That was the Head Doctor, that bastard, and he was back! Now that

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[kingdomless]

What a strange night.

Kairi awoke in her bed with a start, clutching tightly onto the sheet that was currently clinging to her body. Last night had been different. Something had changed. What had gone on? What was going to happen to them?

Obviously they hadn't been able to escape. Of course not, Kairi sighed to herself as she rolled out of bed. Of course.

The moment the princess realized she was in her old uniform, her eyes widened and she sprang out of bed, spinning around to look down at herself. The ... the old uniform? And the old announcements were back. Snapping her head towards the intercom in her room, her mouth formed an O as she looked up in pure shock. The general was gone? And ... Landel was back?

Landel was back. Kairi's heard pounding in her chest, and she instantly snapped to attention when the door to her room was opened, a cheerful nurse greeting her - Good morning, Claire! - like she had never left. Following the nurse blindly out of the room, she couldn't help but wonder what was going on. Everything was so strange.

And it only got worse.

Well, better, really. Upon entering the Cafeteria, instantly the redhead's eyes fell upon Sora's spiky head of hair, and was being spun around by -

Before Kairi knew it, she was carefully walking towards the two, ignoring the food line as she looked up at the all too familiar man with wide eyes, her head tilted slightly as she looked up at him, no words escaping her lips.

Strange indeed.

[scintillatingly]

Before Sora could try to process what was going on, he found himself being picked up by Renji. The action forced the tray out of his hands; it fell to the side, sending his paper plate sliding off until it hit the floor. For a split second he thought about how it was a waste, but in the end that thought couldn't even persist because Renji was hugging him and spinning him around.

An illusion wouldn't have done that. More than that, Sora could just tell that this was his old friend, who was back against all odds. Maybe that vision in the forest had been some kind of weird premonition.

Sora didn't really care what it was all about, though. All that mattered was that Renji was here again, back from the dead. All of those memories of their time together here, back when Sora had still been so new to this place, came flooding back as he forced out a laugh. He couldn't even be that bothered by the fact that Renji had just picked him up like he weighed nothing.

He was still balanced in the man's arms, searching for the right response, when he noticed some movement in the corner of his vision. "Kairi!" he announced once he spotted the girl, forcing himself out of Renji's grip (partly from embarrassment, partly because he was pretty sure that those two were going to want to hug too).

"I can't believe this. It's really you!" He sent a grin from Renji to Kairi and suddenly all of his worrying about still being stuck in this place seemed far away. None of that mattered when he had his friends with him.

[stray_shinigami]

Renji probably would have just dropped Sora if he hadn't extricated himself first, because there was Kairi. Just seeing her released another knot of tension that Renji hadn't even been aware of. He snatched the girl up in his arms and gave her the same treatment as Sora, though if anything he was grinning like an even bigger idiot as he did it. "Kairi! You guys are okay! You're okay!"

Yes, it was stating the obvious. Several times. But he didn't care, because it was Kairi and Sora and they were still in one piece and...

And words were failing. But that didn't even matter, because he was hugging Kairi.

[kingdomless]

"I'm not dreaming?" Kairi asked in surprise when Sora moved away from Renji, eyes still wide even as suddenly she felt his familiar arms wrap around her, spinning her around just as he had done Sora. However, with seconds, her surprise disappeared, and was instead replaced by just ... a large feeling of relief and pure joy. He was okay! He was okay, and Sora was okay, and everything was perfect.

(Minus still being trapped on a strange World in a prison like institute, but ... minor details.)

Kairi's arms wrapped tightly around Renji in response, clinging to the older man as her eyes shut in happiness. Renji was alive and well, and ... what more could she ask for? Sora was okay. She only hoped Riku was all right as well.

"You're back!" she cried out, her own smile rivaling the sun in brightness. "When did you wake up? How long have you been here? Sora!" she chirped happily, reaching out for her other friend as well despite the embrace. There was so much to talk about, but all she could focus on was the fact that at that moment, everything was essentially perfect.

[scintillatingly]

Sora stood back and watched the two of them hug, that smile continuing to cover his face. He felt a little guilty looking at Kairi, seeing how he and Riku had took off without her last night, but it hadn't amounted to anything anyway. He did want to know what the girl had done with herself last night, but that could probably wait.

Kairi went ahead and asked Renji all of those important questions that Sora had been too shocked and overjoyed to voice. He blinked when Kairi reached out for him next, watching as her hand landed on his wrist but allowing himself to be pulled forward.

Unfortunately, they had made a scene, and it wasn't long before a nurse stepped over.

"Really, you three should know better!" the woman scolded before looking specifically at Sora. "Especially you, Matthew. You've always been so well-behaved."

"I'm sorry," Sora quickly responded, bowing his head a little as he stared at the mess of food scattered across the floor. "Do you need help cleaning up?"

"No," the nurse replied with a small sigh and a shake of her head. "We'll take care of it. Just take your seats, please. I'll have some food brought over to you shortly."

Sora was glad to see that they weren't being denied their breakfast. The military probably would have punished them that way, right? At least the nurses were a little nicer, even if they also tended to treat them like they might break something and hurt themselves at any second.

"Guess we'd better sit down," he said to the other two. He gave them a sheepish grin and then fell into the closest chair.

[stray_shinigami]

Before Renji could answer any of Kairi's questions, the nurse stuck her nose in. Renji put Kairi down and simply glowered. He'd made messes a lot worse than this recently, but it just didn't seem worth it to start shit with a nurse when that would get him separated from the very people he was happy to see.

Renji sat down next to Sora, his expression returning to a grin as soon as the nurse's back was turned. "I woke up last night. I ran into Daemon right after the doors opened, so we pretty much just hung out the whole time." Painting the walls with blood probably wouldn't qualify as 'just hanging out' to anyone but Daemon or Renji, but that probably didn't matter. "He told me... it's been a while. I guess I missed some stuff, huh."

[kingdomless]

Moving to sit down across from the two of them on the other side of the table, Kairi couldn't help but smile. Things were going to be okay, you know?

So, Renji woke up last night, and had luckily found someone to wander around with. The name Daemon sounded familiar, but she couldn't exactly place it right at that moment. Still, she was just glad that he hadn't been alone last night. However, she remembered how strong he had once said he was back in his World, so it was entirely possible that he would be okay on his own. That didn't stop her from worrying, of course, just like she didn't stop worrying over Sora and Riku, despite knowing full well they could take care of themselves.

"You missed ... yes," Kairi admitted, looking to Sora to at least share the news of everything that had been happening. He had been there for the longest, after all. Even she had been asleep for quite some time before suddenly waking up one day. Still, she'd try to help him explain things the best that she could.

[scintillatingly]

Oh, so Renji had found Daemon? Sora was glad to hear that, since it had been clear that Daemon was worried about him. Sora hadn't had the heart to tell him what had happened to Renji, and now he was very glad that he hadn't. As it turned out, there hadn't been anything to worry about.

Come to think of it, wasn't it strange that both Daemon and Renji had come back one after the other when they had been gone for so long? Sora wondered if that meant that more and more older patients -- those that had vanished weeks ago -- might be returning. And was that good or bad?

But he'd been asked a question, so Sora pulled himself out of his thoughts and addressed the two as he ate. "I'm glad you found him! I talked to him yesterday." It had been the first time they'd met, even if they'd heard of each other before. Sora couldn't help but wonder what would happen with Arts and Crafts now that Renji was back, but...

Well, maybe that was a good place to start. "And yeah, you missed a ton! More than I can even remember, probably. But I guess the first thing is that... well, a lot of other people from back then are gone too. Like Hitsugaya and the others..." He paused, not having planned to start this out on a bad note. "Umm, the point is that I ended up taking over the Arts and Crafts club! I... hope you don't mind." Sora glanced down at his plate, feeling strangely self-conscious all of a sudden.

[stray_shinigami]

Renji's expression slowly sobered as Sora mentioned Hitsugaya. "I know," he said quietly. "I could tell they were all gone as soon as I woke up." Still, he managed to bring back a kind of half-smile when Sora mentioned Arts and Crafts. "And of course I don't mind! Couldn't think of anyone better to do it. Just tell me what you want me to do."

And considering that Sora was in charge of Arts and Crafts, then that meant he was definitely the guy Renji could report to. He'd been planning on it anyway, but it made life easier since he didn't have to find someone else and tell them too.

"I guess... speaking of that, I've got a report." He gave Sora a wry smile. "Sorry to launch right into business, but I might as well tell you while it's all fresh in my mind.

While Daemon and I were... looking for trouble, we met up with a couple of non-patients on the second floor patio. I'm guessing they're people that have been on staff or something here while I've been away. A man and a woman. Daemon called the man Harrington if that helps." For good measure, he also briefly described Lydia and Harrington to Sora, hoping that he'd know who he was talking about. "They were trying to make an escape. The woman said that they'd managed to jam the device that... Agiular, I think? Anyway, the device that guy was using to stop our powers. So we helped them along, which really just meant carrying them down to the ground and then distracting some monsters so they could climb over the wall. Don't know what happened to them after that, but hopefully they made it. They were pretty firm about not wanting any more help from us than that." Renji's tone plainly said that he thought that was pretty stupid on their part.

He hesitated, but he might as well add it while they were talking more business kind of stuff. "Also I've got a message from a source I'm not gonna name, but it's trustworthy. Some kind of like prophecy type thing, I guess, about our situation here." He paused to remember Daemon's exact words. "It's: One way must be chosen. Vengeance lies above, but freedom is hidden below."

He grinned. "So that's what I got. Not bad for a first night back, huh?"

[kingdomless]

( stupid DDOS attacks >:( )

Listening to Renji, Kairi's eyes widened when he spoke about meeting two people with names that were rather familiar ... and about a device that caused everyone to remain human. Was that why everything was back to "normal"? The machine must have been fixed. She couldn't help but wonder where it currently resided.

Her surprise only grew when the words freedom is hidden below were uttered, and she turned towards Sora for a moment before turning back to Renji, thinking to herself out loud. "Below ... if taken ... literally, you think maybe ... maybe they're talking about the basement? You can get out and go home through the basement?"

Well, that was interesting, especially since everyone often said it was "certain death" in the basement. Looks like there really was something down there worth looking into.

[scintillatingly]

A huge wave of relief washed over Sora the moment that Renji made it clear that he was fine with him being the one to carry on Arts and Crafts. It was something he'd originally decided to do because everyone else who had been in charge had left, but now he felt like he'd come into his own with it, at least a bit. He had people like Riku and Kairi helping him with it, and he was glad to see that Renji would be around to support him too. He gave Renji a grateful grin to show him just how much his approval was appreciated.

As it turned out, though, Renji had already gathered some pretty important information. Sora hadn't expected that, but he took in the report with rapt attention, knowing that he would need to try and remember every detail. So Harrington had helped some other rebel soldier jam the device that was limiting their powers? Sora hadn't even known for sure that it was a device until now, but it seemed that even if it had been jammed, it had also been fixed. That was why they were all still here now, after all.

"Harrington was one of the soldiers, but I guess he was just posing as one to get to Aguilar." He didn't know about the woman and Renji didn't have a name for her, so that would have to remain a mystery for now.

Still, there was even more than that. When Renji mentioned a source that could give out prophecies, Sora couldn't help but think of the vague descriptions that Daemon had given him of his powers the day before. He kept those thoughts to himself, though, since it seemed like it was supposed to stay secret.

Kairi immediately jumped on the clue with some thoughts of her own, and Sora glanced at her even as he took a bite of his waffles. "It could be, but... Riku asked other patients about that. Everyone said that it wasn't worth it. I'm not sure if we should take the risk..." Not that he didn't trust Daemon. No, it was more that Sora was used to relying on Riku's judgment when it came to things like this.

[stray_shinigami]

"Yeah, I was thinking it meant the basement too." Renji shrugged, his grin going wry. "I'm personally more interested in the revenge part, since I don't feel like escape does a whole hell of a lot if Landel is still alive. But I also don't know that implies that we all have to pick one or the other, or if it's more of an... individual choice. Which makes it fuzzier." He rubbed his chin, frowning as Sora talked about the basement. "Maybe it's bad enough that it doesn't seem worth it if you don't know there's the possibility of escape? I think it's worth checking out if we don't have the details. And I'm willing to do that. I'm just a giant meat shield anyway." He grinned. "But it's up to you, boss."

"I feel like the big take-home from what that Harrington guy said is that we now know it's one device that's keeping us locked down. And that it's possible to at least temporarily jam it. I guess the next question is how that works, and if it's possible to do that without the stupid pink barrier coming up, because that made the whole exercise feel pretty pointless." Renji frowned. He wished he knew what had happened in his absence. Maybe there'd been some important stuff in that, but he didn't even know where to start to ask questions. "Anything you guys can tell me about what I missed would be... great. I feel like I've just got a big hole where useful stuff could go."

And then... oh yeah. He cleared his throat, feeling a little weird about it, but he had to ask. "Do either of you have any idea what happened to my sword? I'm going to be a lot less useful without it."