Nightshift 26: F21-30 Hallway

[ex_northswai344]

Ashe couldn't deny that she was a least a little relieved when the lights went out and the doors slowly groaned as they unlatched and opened. The transmitted and flashlight would of course be needed if she were to progress efficiently in her exploration of this institution; apparently, an entirely new level and a few choice foes had been selected

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[nadine_he_loves]

That voice.

Nadine froze when she heard it, remembering the 'dreams' from last night. Was she dreaming now? No, she hadn't fallen asleep. Nothing had changed but it was changing and God she hated that voice it sounded like him and she could remember....

"What... what's happening?" she demanded, wrapping her arms around her. No, no, this wasn't right. This couldn't be real. It was a hallucination, a dream, it was all in her head! "What are you doing?"

[ex_northswai344]

Turning back to the woman as she began to panic, Ashe knelt beside her one knee, remembering how the Knights of Dalmasca used to address her when she was younger. It would be unwise to touch the woman in an attempt to offer comfort; not only would it be awkward, it might have a completely different effect. Instead, beside her on her knee, the princess spoke.

"It is a hard thing to grow accustomed to. That voice is that of the man who keeps us here, or so I've been told. It is not sorcery, merely a fashion of transmitter set about this prison. When evening descends, we are to set out and play a game of his." Ashe paused, looking Nadine straight in the eye. "I am new to this place as well, but I will not soften the blow of it for your own sake. He seeks to drive us mad, or perhaps he has another purpose. Whatever the reason, we must explore this place in hopes of finding what the other man, Jack, gives us by way of hint. I shall accompany you, and I promise no harm will come to you along the way. If you should wish it."

[nadine_he_loves]

"No." Nadine shook her head, a rapid movement. "No, this can't be real. This can't be happening. It's all a dream. It's just a dream. It's just... my mind. My mind plays tricks on me and makes me see things and think things that aren't real. That's what they told me, the doctors and the nurses." Nadine just kept shaking her head. It couldn't be....

But it was. She knew what was a dream and what was real. She knew what was her own mind and what he put there. She lifted her eyes to the intercom. Was this his doing? She couldn't feel him.

Frightened, Nadine's hand went between her legs, pressing between them snugly. No pain. There was no pain, but she remembered him forcing her onto the floor of the desert, pinning her down, ignoring her screams...

"I don't... I don't want to go out there. I was out there last night and it was horrible. It was dark and dirty and it felt wrong and it was a dream! God, why can't this be a dream?"

[ex_northswai344]

"You must calm yourself." Ashe was sure to keep herself steady, close to reaching out and shaking the woman's shoulders lightly. Thankfully, she still managed to have some grace about her.

"I know not from where you hail, but I must seek a way out of this place. It is not my home, and there is much I must see to when I return there." The young woman sighed, appealing to Nadine once more. "I do not want to leave you here alone." Especially not like this... Compassion was not lost on the bitter princess, and she had too much of a heart to leave a delirious woman such as this to her own devices this eve.

[nadine_he_loves]

"I'm from New York. But if this is real and I'm Nadine then New York is gone and everyone's dead and he's out there somewhere." Nadine was nearing hysterics. The fear of the Dark man out there somewhere, lurking, waiting for her...

"I tried to get away, I tried to save everyone, I did. But Larry wouldn't do what I asked and it's his fault because if he'd just listened I never would have had to go. He wouldn't have wanted me anymore, I wouldn't have been pure for him." She was babbling now, thoughts spilling out as words and she didn't bother to try and explain herself. "You don't understand what's waiting for me! I can't feel him right now but he's out there somewhere and he'll find me and he'll...."

She was shaking, the memories of that creature, that demon forcing her down once more coming to her. The heat of the desert, the sharp sting of his claws, the way Flagg's handsome face had melted into that of the demon's....

"You can't keep me safe. No one can keep me safe. Larry could have, but he didn't. God, I want Larry."

[ex_northswai344]

Ashe's concern mingled with confusion at the nonsense this woman seemed to be spouting. The basic gist of her fears, a dark man waiting for from whom she could find no shelter, was not lost on the princess, but apparently it would be difficult to get through to this woman with logic

[nadine_he_loves]

Don't get hysterical, Nadine.

You can do this, Nadine.

You're brave, you can do this.

It was Larry's voice in her mind, Larry from before, Larry from when he had loved her. Larry standing in front of the tunnel, the reek of dead bodies rotting in the July sun all around them. Larry with his cigarette and his guitar and his leather vest. Larry telling her she was brave and strong and she could do it. And she had done it. She'd braved that tunnel of death and decay and hell. But she'd had Larry with her. Larry had made her strong - wasn't that why he had ripped her from Larry's side? From Larry's bed, in the middle of the night? Not that it had been a proper bed, because she couldn't even let Larry do that but....

"Okay." Nadine threw up her hands. "Okay, fine. And don't snap at me. But if he is here, not even God can protect me." Nadine's voice had a harsh tone to it then, bitter. Why would God protect her, anyway? What love did God have for the bride of the devil?

[ex_northswai344]

Whatever is was this woman feared so deeply must have been truly horrifying, and yet Ashe felt no dread at the thought of facing anything. Perhaps it was the foolish desire of a woman who had lost everything, a woman who had nothing to lost and was willing to face anything to regain what Archadia had taken from her. Her young face was set in stone, giving her the look a woman much older than she actually was

[nadine_he_loves]

"I don't care."

It was easier to leave the decisions to someone else. "I only know... a couple of hallways, I didn't pay much attention. Last night it was dark and I had a cop with me and he led the way but he didn't know where we were going either." She shrugged and tucked her graying hair back behind her ears.

"I used to have a gun, but I didn't know how to use it well." Nadine had never been one for weapons.

[ex_northswai344]

"Very well, then," was Ashe's short reply as she made her way out the door. Hopefully, if the decisions were to be left to her, there would be a minimal amount of complaining. "If you will follow along, we shall be off."

A gun? Well, if they'd hidden her own longsword from her, it came as no surprise that they would've taken Nadine's gun.

"I'm not as proficient with firearms, but I am capable enough with one," the princess admitted as she flipped on her flashlight and turned down the hallway, leading the pair in the direction of a set of stairs she remembered passing before. "If I could find even a simple staff, it would be acceptable..." Ashe's voice trailed off as she walked.

[[ Heading over here, unless you have objections? Feel free to take the lead if there's somewhere particular you'd like to go. Cause I'm kinda winging it. XD ]]