Nightshift 33: The Grand Ballroom

[blood_and_pocky]

[from here]Before they’d even reached the bottom of the stairs, Aidou heard the sound of trickling water. And once he stepped onto the black marble floor, it was oddly the first thing he focused on. Fountains… His gaze trailed them up, to the seemingly infinite expanse of ceiling

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[thebloodyacacia]

The intricacy of the grand ballroom and the intrigue of the doors may have been a major distraction, as at the far end of the ballroom, a figure stood, sword gripped tight in its right hand and helmet tilted toward the room's first occupant.

He didn't move yet. His sword lay still at his side, a slight trail left in the stone below from the blade.

[arrogantflame]

As Wolfram reluctantly allowed 'John' to help him down the stairway, actually not stumbling too badly, he tensed as they made it to the bottom, clutching his items tightly again. He could feel that the room was big and open judging by both Aidou's comment and the way the air moved and sounded around them. He kept opening his eyes in brief intervals, but the most he could make out still were the giant blurry shapes of his companions.

"S-Something else?" he whispered. Whatever it was, he couldn't tell at all, and he hated feeling so very defenseless like this.

[i_slay_giants]

Of course, Aidou didn't share exactly what it was he saw. Jack wasn't in the mood for cryptic bullshit--he'd gotten enough of that from Fabletown.

"And what is it you see?" He said dryly.

[blood_and_pocky]

"You didn't get anything in your eyes, did you?" Aidou inquired. He pointed at the giant thing with the metal pylon in its head, where it was ridiculously obvious. "It's right there. The pyramided head thing." He'd seen it once before, but had never engaged it--like the thing in the kitchen, it wasn't something the noble wanted to fool around with on account of it being disgusting. But this thing probably wouldn't even be able to fit inside the kitchen, given the fact that it was much taller and broader.

A giant with a club and a penchant for moving faster than its bulk would seemingly allow.

And considering how often it was mentioned on the bulletin board, Aidou thought it had to be one of Landel's veterans. He assumed Jack would recognize what he meant, even if Wolfram didn't. The kid was new and had his vision impaired. Jack really had no excuse.

[thebloodyacacia]

As if he heard Aidou talking about him, saw the motions toward him, Pyramid Head lurched forward. His sword screeeeched forward as he slowly came closer.

Slowly, of course, because the sword was so huge, so heavy. His movements were jerky, and he left behind a trail of broken, scratched marble thanks to the blade. Still, he was headed straight for them.

[arrogantflame]

The scratching of metal on stone was something that Wolfram could definitely hear, and something about the sound made him shiver deeply. Despite the fact that he could barely see, he was overwhelmed with the feeling that this pyramid-thing might not be something they should be messing with, whatever Aidou had meant by that. Not that the thing in the kitchen was any better.

"Can we out-run it?" Wolfram didn't wait for an answer, half pulling out of the hold on his arm and trying to walk in the direction opposite of where the sound was coming from. His other senses had started getting sharper in response to the lack of sight, but that didn't mean he trusted them enough to fight.

[i_slay_giants]

Jack took a step back. Fan-fucking-tastic. Up the stairs, there was an acid spitting alien; down here, there was freak-of-the-week and his giant scalpel of doom. How to get out of this?

Wait, he still had leverage. He tightened his grip on Wolfram with feigned concern. "We're gonna have to try," he replied to the question and positioned himself behind the Mazoku should the monster lunged at him.

"Where are we running to, Aidou?" He called to the vampire. "That might make running for our lives easier."

[blood_and_pocky]

Aidou made a face at the unpleasant sound of a rusted blade against stone. His thoughts mirrored Jack's in sentiment, though not necessary in word choice. There was no way he was getting caught between a door and a monster with those two ill-prepared 'comrades', not again

[thebloodyacacia]

The ballroom was quite large, so there was a lot of space to cross before he would reach them. In fact, they would probably have enough time to force the door open and escape, gone from his reach for the night. Still, he continued onward, dragging his sword behind him. His height - and therefore his footsteps - gave him leverage, allowed him to move longer distances despite the slowness of his movements.

And he was getting closer.

Pyramid Head jerked the sword again, bringing it forward and causing a searing screech. The sound made no difference to him, apparently.

[arrogantflame]

Wolfram winced visibly at the sound, and yanked his hand away from 'John' with a quick motion. His mind was frantic, and he knew that he hand to stay away from whatever that thing was that was coming towards them. At least it didn't sound like it was moving all that fast, but that didn't keep his heart from racing.

Following the sound of Aidou's voice, he stumbled in the direction of the white blob that he assumed was Aidou's pants. He was determined not to get any more injuries if at all possible, and whatever worked the fastest he would help with, even if things were still blurry. "Push where?"

[i_slay_giants]

Jack glowered and joined the boys at the door. "Where does this even lead?!" He griped to Aidou, but joined him in trying to push the door open. "How do we know there won't be ANOTHER monster on the other side?"

At least this one seemed slow enough to outrun. He sighed. He should have just kept looking for Lust and never bothered with these kids...

[blood_and_pocky]

Like Aidou was going to answer either of Jack's incredibly rhetorical questions. Hadn't he already made it clear he didn't know? Sheesh. Some people. He might have needed to put a hand on Wolfram's shoulder and direct to him to a spot beside Aidou, but he was easier to deal with, whining wise. "Here."

But the fact that Jack might actually have a use now was grating. Aidou sighed too.

No time to get seriously irritated with himself and this place until later.

With the three of them all lined up like a bunch of cooperative teammates, Aidou didn't bother to say anything more. Their effort to push together was nothing more than a common interest, for now--putting another annoyance behind them. To his slight dismay, the door moved with ease, opening to the three of them without trouble.

Impossible that either of them had contributed that much strength... right?

[denying Phead raep time and moving to here]