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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[jurisfictional]

[from here]

This wasn't Thursday's first excursion into the basement, but the beauty of it still took her breath away for a brief moment. Tonight, she supposed, they'd try one of the entrances to the right and left of the ballroom. One of them was bound to lead somewhere interesting.

Her train of thought halted as she caught sight of the creature standing near the center of the ballroom. Its profile, described so many times on the Bulletin Board, was absolutely unmistakable.

"Oh, fuck," she muttered. How many creatures did Landel plan on throwing at them tonight, anyway?

[akarusa]

Hokuto was so surprised to step into a ballroom that she just stopped and stared. It was beautiful, something straight out of a movie--but what was it doing here? She didn't have much time to wonder, though, because scant seconds later she realized they weren't alone and turned to see who else was in here...

"If you see something with a triangle for a head, run."

Hokuto froze, eyes fixed on one of the monsters here she'd hoped to never see. All she knew about this thing was that it was invulnerable or close to it, and that was more than enough. Breath already coming quicker, she wondered, Okay, now what?

[spirit_forge]

Since he'd been down here before, the wonder of the ballroom had already worn off on him. Unfortunately, there seemed to be a new addition to the decor, an unfriendly looking creature with a triangular hat and huge-ass blade, creating cracks in the floor. Just by appearances alone, Archer could tell this wasn't an enemy he wanted to mess with, at least for now, in his current state. Fortunately, it appeared that his comrades seemed to share the same opinion as him.

"Door's over there. Let's go." With his free hand, he motioned towards the western door, opposite the direction he'd gone last night. The monster wasn't moving towards them yet, and while it would be nice if the creature stayed still like a statue, Archer wasn't really holding out for that hope. Tightening his grip around his sword, he edged towards the door, while keeping an eye on the dangerous monster.

[jurisfictional]

Thursday nodded, choosing to stay with her back to the wall and circle around the ballroom without having to get any closer to the triangle-headed thing. She hadn't gone through the door Archer was indicating before - here was to hoping nothing worse lay behind it.

[akarusa]

Hokuto had heard very little about the basement, and now she was panicked enough so she couldn't remember any of it. She could see the door, but it seemed so far away that it really didn't do her much good.

And when we get that far, what else will we find waiting for us? she wondered, shivering. She had nothing left in her stomach, but she still really, really didn't feel well.

[spirit_forge]

So far, so good. Tonight had been a pretty full night so far, having encountered several deadly foes already, and Archer's cynical half offhandedly wondered, the same as his team, whether there was something waiting for them on the other side too? Probably.

[jurisfictional]

Thursday kept moving. It looked like another group was engaging the creature; while she didn't like the idea of leaving them to its mercy, especially given what they had seen in the kitchen above, it seemed they were well armed and capable of defending themselves. Besides, she wasn't sure her own team wouldn't just get in the way. The group around the creature was sizable already.

She put on an extra burst of speed, hoping the creature would be too preoccupied to notice. Reaching the door Archer had indicated, she placed a hand on it and pushed.

Nothing. Thursday fought down the immediate surge of fear. Perhaps something had to happen for it to open?

[akarusa]

The door wasn't opening--why wasn't it opening? Hokuto looked at her teammates, heart pounding. They didn't have a key, but that shouldn't--

She stopped breathing for a second when one possibility came to her. She'd played more than one video game with this kind of scene; you entered a room and saw only one other way out, but you couldn't access it until you did something. And the only possibility she could think of was... Pyramid Head.

Somehow she managed to slip into a meditative state; if they had to go up against that thing at all, she'd need every advantage she could get.

[spirit_forge]

When the door didn't open, Archer clearly saw the panic on his teammates' faces and decided to assuage their fears. "There's a trick to the door. It requires three people to open." Since he was eager to leave the ballroom, his speech was a little rushed. Almost immediately after the words left his mouth, his hands slammed onto door and pushed with all his might. "All together now!"

Sparing a fleeting glance over his shoulder, he could see the beast hadn't switched its focus to them, yet, and Archer would very much like to keep it that way.

[jurisfictional]

Oh, right. Thursday smacked herself mentally. She and Renji and Max had pushed together that night, hadn't they? It only stood to reason that the other doors in this place would open the same way.

With both Archer and Hokuto pushing with her, the door opened with surprising ease, and none too soon. She just hoped nothing else would try to kill them tonight.

[jurisfictional]

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