Day 36: Courtyard

[longlivetehking]

Scar didn't have to think long about which direction to be escorted in for the third shift. He didn't quite enjoy the human activities these nurses forced them to do, so it wasn't much of a surprise that he soon found himself sitting on the grass in the courtyard

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[razing_phoenix]

Even with a broken arm, Guy wasn't about to hold off on heading outside if he was given the chance. Seeing how he had managed to get a good, hearty meal under his belt last shift, he was feeling a little more awake and aware. The pain was unrelenting, but it wasn't like that was a new experience for him.

Unfortunately, his hand had gone numb - a result of the break, and he knew it would right itself eventually - and so he felt even further crippled as he walked down the dirt path of the courtyard and looked for a place to sit.

The place was still fairly empty, since he had managed to leave the cafeteria early while some of the other patients were probably still wrapping up conversations. Sighing to himself, he picked out a bench that was near the pond and sat down, crossing his legs as he looked over the surface of the water.

Now he needed to consider what he was going to do with himself tonight. He knew that trying to actually go out and do something was a terrible idea, but staying locked up in his room wasn't so appealing, either. The chance of there being someone else he knew who needed to take the night off was slim, and he wasn't going to ask anyone to sacrifice their time for his sake.

He might just have to give in and actually get a proper night's sleep for once. He would have said it was well-deserved at this point if it weren't for the fact that his own mistakes were what had gotten him injured in the first place. He didn't like the idea of not doing something to help, but he didn't want to be a burden, either - and considering the state he was in, he most certainly would be.

It was looking like he would have to post to the bulletin and let his friends know that something had happened and he couldn't be of service tonight. It left a bad taste in his mouth, but that was better than leaving them in the dark.

[Free!]

[for_marian]

Even though it made no practical difference--the walls were just as much prison walls outside as they were inside--Leon felt that being outdoors was slightly less stifling. The sports field was his usual choice as it allowed him more room to spar--as much as the nurses would let him--but after his discussion with Seiya he wasn't really feeling up to seeking out a sparring partner. Nothing to do tonight, and the day almost over without his having figured out a solution.

Frustrated and at a bit of a loss, Leon took a seat on a bench near the pond. Another boy was already there, one with a broken arm, so Leon nodded in his direction and managed a mostly-civil greeting, "Hello." Ugh. This place was really starting to get to him, if he was greeting everyone semi-politely simply out of habit now.

[razing_phoenix]

Being approached by a stranger was somewhat rare in this place, though that probably had something to do with the fact that Guy was generally the one seeking out other people to talk to. Granted, the company was welcome, and he made sure to move over and give the younger patient some space when he took his seat.

"Hey," he greeted, looking the teenager over and realizing that he had seen him around the institute quite a few times before. The stranger was no newcomer, that was for sure. Guy was surprised that he hadn't gotten any questions about the broken limb, but maybe everyone was used to their fellow patients being badly injured by now.

"How's it going?" he asked, not seeing the need to start getting into any sort of heavy conversation right off the bat. Sometimes it was nice to just have a normal chat with someone.

[for_marian]

Leon didn't see any reason to ask about the other man's arm--he'd probably broken it fighting some monster or another, and it would heal in due time. Not much to discuss, really. With the collective bestiary being available on the message board there wasn't much point in trying to get information about individual monsters out of the victims--easier just to read their accounts. Anyway, asking questions about the other man's arm could lead to Leon being asked questions about his hand, and that wasn't something he particularly cared to contemplate. "Uneventful, I guess. Stayed in last night, not sure what to do tonight, either."

[razing_phoenix]

Well, that was quite the coincidence. Maybe it wasn't too huge of a stretch to come across someone else who was trying to figure out what to do with their night (wasn't that the eternal question?), but Guy still thought it was interesting.

"Same here, actually. Well, I... sort of went out last night, but I'm fresh out of ideas about what to do tonight. My options are pretty limited." The reason for that was obvious enough, and so he chose not to insult the other man's intelligence by pointing out his arm.

Instead, he half-turned toward the stranger and held out his left hand, as awkward as it was to be using it. "Name's Guy Cecil, by the way."

[for_marian]

The name was a little familiar, somehow. Leon didn't answer for a moment, ignoring the extended hand, as he tried to place the name. "Were you in contact with Kratos, on the message board, about Demon Fang?" Belatedly, Leon reached out to shake Guy's hand, kind of glad that the other man was forced to be left-handed for the time being, as well. Leon's left hand was whole, and so the handshake was a lot less awkward. "Leon Magnus."

[OOC: If I'm hallucinating that message board conversation, please forgive me. x.x]

[razing_phoenix]

So maybe both of them not having plans for nightshift wasn't a huge coincidence, but this was. Guy's eyes widened as he came to realize just who this was, and his handshake became firmer as a result.

"Yeah, that's me," he confirmed with a quick nod. He had tried to organize a meeting with this Leon Magnus over the board as well, if he remembered correctly, and now he felt bad that he had never followed through on that. Better late than never, though.

"So would you mind telling me a little about your world, and maybe the power source that you draw on to do those sorts of attacks?" Hopefully he wasn't being too forward, but seeing how they had at one point agreed to discuss this, he didn't think it would be a problem.

[No, you didn't imagine it!]

[for_marian]

This was a topic with which Leon was very comfortable, which made a nice change from the sorts of situations he was continually being thrown into here. Having to be nice to people, make allies, it was all alien to him--officers didn't need to make friends, least of all him, and were in fact better off if they didn't.

"I think I mentioned that I'm not from Kratos' world, either, in that message. I'm from the kingdom of Seinegald, on the world we typically call Er'ther. It's nothing like this place, the kinds of technology they have here is found only in relics from the ancient Ae'ther civilization, in my world." Well, close enough. Leon was not going to get into the sticky topic of his father's company and their revival of Ae'ther technology.

[razing_phoenix]

While Guy hadn't recalled the place names exactly, he did remember Leon mentioning them before. They still didn't mean much of anything to him, and yet he couldn't help wondering what Er'ther was like. What was it about Auldrant, Er'ther, and Kratos' world that linked them? He knew there was probably no way to figure that out while he was stuck here, but it was still worth thinking about.

As expected, Guy perked up at the word "technology." Even injured, he wasn't going to let a chance to talk about his favorite subject just pass him by. The mention of an ancient civilization with advanced technology certainly brought the Dawn Age to mind.

"That sounds kind of similar to what happened where I come from," he expressed out loud. "What happened to that civilization?" There was a possibility that Leon didn't know, but there was no harm in asking. The younger man hadn't shown any signs of disliking this particular conversation topic, so Guy didn't see why he shouldn't pursue it as far as he could.

[for_marian]

Leon knew more than he ever wanted to about the Ae'therians and what had happened to them. He was one of very few people living--so to speak--who had actually met one. Or the spirit of one, at least, though he had only come to realise that was the case far too late. "They went to war with the surface people, the Er'therians. A group of Er'therians sacrificed their bodies to become weapons capable of defeating the Ae'therians." Chal... Leon hadn't missed him so sharply in a while, but speaking of the Swordians now was bringing that pain back.

[razing_phoenix]

Hearing about surface people got Guy wondering if Leon's world had something similar to Auldrant with the Outer Lands. If that was the case, then he would have to assume that the link between their worlds was no coincidence. That many similarities was just too strange, wasn't it?

But before he could ask for more details on that, he was distracted by the mention of people becoming weapons. What did that even mean? He raised an eyebrow at the younger man, not willing to question what he was saying since Leon was being perfectly serious about it.

"Sacrificed their bodies? What do you mean by that?" Was it something like what Tear had done, taking in the miasma for the sake of helping everyone? And yet the way it was phrased implied something else. Either way, Guy's curiosity had been grabbed.

[for_marian]

"None of this was common knowledge, you must understand. But that doesn't matter now. Things changed." Leon smiled wryly, thinking on just how and why things had changed. Hugo. Kronos, rather. It was hard to stop blaming his father and start blaming the ancient madman who had influenced him. Leon would have to settle for hating them both equally.

"The Ae'therians were winning. The situation was desperate. We never fully came to understand the technology that accomplished it, but the spirits and personalities of six chosen soldiers were transferred into swords. They became known as Swordians, and when wielded by the right people they provided powers and strength that were impossible separately." Berselius. Dymlos. Atwight. Clemente. Igtenos. ... Chaltier. It was hard for Leon to imagine his dear and only friend going through a war like that, a thousand years before Leon was ever born.

[razing_phoenix]

A lot of the things that Guy had uncovered while traveling alongside Luke hadn't been common knowledge either, so he could understand where Leon was coming from in that respect. It seemed like a lot of people who were trapped here fell into that category, though he was sure there were some exceptions. There always were, as if Landel was making a specific attempt to keep them from making any valid connections among the patient populace.

Spirits transferred into swords? Well, that was a new one. Guy raised an eyebrow, knowing better than to question this sort of thing, as farfetched as it might seem to him. After all, things like fomicry probably seemed like mere "science fiction" to some people, and in Auldrant it had been a reality.

As a swordsman, the concept was interesting to think about. He couldn't imagine what it would be like to wield a "Swordian," but maybe...

"The right people, huh," he said, eyeing Leon carefully. "Did you know any of these people?" Or was he one himself? That would be the best way to explain why he had all of this knowledge on hand, after all.

[for_marian]

"Not during the Aeth'er wars, of course. Those were a thousand years before my time." Though Chal did sometimes talk about the other Swordians and what they were like back then--his rants about Dymlos and Atwight were quite impressive--the one thing he never really discussed was who his Master had been at the time. Maybe he thought Leon would be jealous? Maybe he was right. "But the Swordians awoke again during a more recent crisis, and I knew most of the Swordian Masters from that time, yes."

[razing_phoenix]

So Leon was involved in all of this pretty extensively, it sounded like. It was hard to grasp all the details with terms that he couldn't identify with being thrown around, but the very concept of a sword that had the essence of a human in it was worth contemplating.

He would have wanted to ask more, but it was around that time when the intercom went off and they were given the chance to move elsewhere. Guy realized that he could have just remained here to continue this conversation, but he didn't want to take up too much of Leon's time. There was a chance the teenager had other matters he had to see to, after all -- such as figuring out what he was doing that night.

Besides, Guy need to get in contact with his friends over the bulletin, so he couldn't just laze around for the remainder of the day, as much as he needed some rest.

"Well," he said as he stood gingerly from the bench. "It was nice to meet you, Leon. I'd like to talk more about all of this sometime, if we ever get the chance." He smiled briefly, hoping his questions hadn't come as too much of a bother.