Night 18: Soccer Field/Courtyard

[0ver_the_moon]

( Coming from here.Haru approached the door cautiously, having moved ahead of the others. Pausing to listen for any sounds, he waited for a moment, but all was quiet, except the faint sound of voices of the others down the hall behind him. Not waiting for them to catch up, he reached out and tested the handle. It turned easily and he pushed the door

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[grosse_sklaven]

((Coming from the previous thread, here.))

"Yes, let's continue on," Adelheid nodded as he picked up his tools, popping his back and trying to ignore the light-headed feeling. He'd recover soon enough, it was just a matter of staying healthy until then.

...he had to wonder what he was doing, though. Wandering off alone with a Freeman-type? Leaving a helpless Haru in the hands of the military? Actually trusting a military officer with someone who had a bloodline curse? Either this place was getting to him more than he had thought... or Hughes just wormed beneath his defenses, somehow. He certainly didn't act like an officer, but normally that didn't matter. Those from his world seemed nice and personable, until they were crossed, and then...

He shook his head, impressed by Eric's light landing, and forced himself back to the task at hand. Adelheid couldn't afford to be distracted, not now. "It seems there's a lake over there," he gestured with his light, avoiding Eric's eyes as the man had requested, "let's make our way there for

[dead_draven]

He nodded, heading off in that direction. "Lake, pond, pool. We'll have no ladies delivering weapons to us, though, considering our luck so far." He said this flippantly, as though everything that came off of his tongue was common knowledge and should be treated as such, even if that wasn't the case. "Maybe some sort of mutant squid, if what that nice young cow boy said about the squirrels is true...?"

[grosse_sklaven]

"'Ladies delivering weapons to us'?" Adelheid paused for a second, confused by that random comment. What sort of reality did this guy come from? "...sorry, it just caught me off-guard. In my own world, women tend to deliver only the sharp end of their weapons."

As he continued on, though, he remembered a comment that had been delivered previously, in the asylum he had been in only a few hours earlier. "I think it would be more likely that fish are in the pond. I'd advise against swimming." Even as he said that, though, a faintly amused smile appeared on his face. "Makes me wonder if the staff has regulation swimwear. They seem to have everything else."

[dead_draven]

"Just a myth," he said, that ever-present smile widening slightly. "The lady of the lake. They say she gave a man the power to rule over an entire country just by handing him a weapon. Says something about how power is gained, don't you think?"

"I'm not much of a swimmer anyway," he said, waving his hand vaguely. "Unless you count rain. So there are staff here? I was beggining to think the place might be abandoned aside from you three."

[grosse_sklaven]

"...oh, the story of King Arthur." It took Adelheid a moment to grasp that, and he almost wanted to smack himself for not getting it earlier. "But he got his power by conquering every other king; the sword just let him do it more effectively. ...it does say a lot about power." The teenager flexed his hand, frowning. If the story had been about his father, Arthur would have taken the sword and killed the woman, followed by dipping her in metal, and...

...that wasn't a train of thought he wanted to follow. "Yeah, there's staff here. Mostly during the day time, they seem entirely normal and helpful... except that they're convinced we're all insane and we belong here. At night, they're turned into monsters, as I believe I mentioned earlier. As for the other point, there are quite a few patients here as well; or at least, there were. I'm not sure how many were lost in the shift."

[dead_draven]

Had he only known that train of thought he would have doggedly followed it. Really, that was his kind of story.

"Shift?" he prompted. "I'm not quite sure I understand. Though the bit about the staff makes sense. The duality of human nature totally accounts for terrible transformations, though this place seems to have taken it a bit further than most." His smile turned wry. "And who's to say we aren't all mad here, anyway? You never know."

[grosse_sklaven]

"...because I've seen madness. Mad blood-frenzy. If there was anything in 'duality', that's what I'd become. And probably be put down like a rabid dog." A disgusted expression at that; it was a nightmare that haunted him from time to time, more often at night than in the day. "Not delusions, like what they seem to insist."

As he walked on, Adelheid mused about what the other man had said. "You're right, though... duality. Incredibly evil men can have something that they love, some spark that still makes them human. And the converse is also true. Unless," he added, almost lightly, "that's another 'guess that can be proven wrong'?"

[dead_draven]

He considered the words, weighing them carefully and replying with well-thought out ease. "Trust me when I say that I have seen madness and bloodthirsty fighting to its fullest extent. I agree with you. If that is what they become, then I have little doubt I would be the same, maybe worse."

His smile reappeared suddenly. "No, I won't fight you on that. Again, I agree. Everyone has a hint of humanity in them, even the worst people. It doesn't mean that they deserve to live, or may be pardoned for their actions. But they are not inhuman, either." His words had turned oddly icy near the end of that. He paused a moment, seeming to snap out of his own thoughts. rapisti'llkillhimwithhisownneedlesonlylovefordrugs-

"But...that reminds me. Didn't you say something earlier about love? I was a bit busy watching the cow escapades to reply."

[grosse_sklaven]

"They become monsters. Whatever they are, I don't think they're human any longer; they have morphic anatomies and nothing but bloodlust. That's what we might face during the night; so it's best to stick together."

As for that middle question, it made Adelheid ponder again. "But... you said that there was duality. Wouldn't it be possible to bring that humanity back into the fore, even if it takes years? So you can't just write someone off as deserving to die so easily."

"...and yes, I was thinking about love. And I'm not sure instinct really has anything to do with it. Blind lust, yes; that's a very common thing. But love is... something else entirely. Or have you never heard of platonic love?" A slight smile at that. Love without passion, that was a Grecian ideal. Adel didn't follow it, really, but it was an honest point.

[dead_draven]

"Fascinating," he murmured. "I'm almost looking forward to meeting one of these creatures, now."

He shrugged. "Perhaps. Maybe all people can be salvaged from their own deeds. Then again...some things are simply unpardonable." He didn't offer any further explanation, though the slight hesitation hinted that there was something more to that.

He held up a hand. "But-does logic dictate the feeling you get when you see that person that you instantly know you are meant to be with always? There is no rationale to it. It's instinct, through and through."

[grosse_sklaven]

"I'm sure they'll find us," Adelheid muttered, a bit worried. That was how it had happened both times in the past, after all. "And I'm sure we'll see more than our fair share, if we keep moving."

"...and what would you say is unpardonable?" He looked at the man as he walked around the periphery of the lake, wondering what could possibly be inside of it. "I've seen some ridiculously remote transformations in some people, it's hard to tell where to draw the line."

When Eric said that last part, though, Adelheid couldn't keep a chortle from amusement from escaping. Of all the things to say... "No, I would certainly say that logic doesn't apply there at all. Otherwise, a certain Mai Shiranui would have given up on the object of her 'love' a decade or so ago. I wouldn't say whether it's instinct or not, though... and if it is, then I'd almost hope that we'd evolve beyond it."

[dead_draven]

"Really?" he asked, sounding like a kid in a candy store more than anything else. "I can't wait to see them for myself."

He glanced down at the lake, getting a quick glimpse of his own reflection, then Adel's. He watched his instead as he walked along the edge. "Unpardonable...rape. Murder of the innocent." His eyes took on the same dark cast that his voice had, like chips of glacial ice. Especially the left, white and glinting in the moonlight. "Things like that."

He took a careful, deep breath, doing his best to ease the sudden tight feeling in his chest. Adel's comment even provoked a faint smile. "You really want that? I say-never. It's the best instinct there is, in my opinion. The instinct to love is the purest that human beings have in them."

[grosse_sklaven]

"...oh." Adelheid shivered at that latter part. Murder of the innocent... no. No. That was pardonable. It had to be. It had to be. Otherwise...

He steered the conversation away from that, shaking his head slightly. "I disagree. Love... it leads to terrible things. Sometimes it's cute, like with Mai... sometimes it's horrifying, what's done in the name of 'love'. You say that it's the purest, but I've never seen any indication of that. Just used like a magic wand, to excuse anything that's done in its name."

[dead_draven]

Without thinking, Eric turned to him, reaching out to place a hand on his arm. before he had a chance to speak, something like an electrical charge went down through his arm, into Adel, and then back to him. It was something like being struck be lightning-neither would be able to move until it was over, both seeing the same thing, forced to watch until the vision-blowback, as Eric often called it-ended.

[damned_intercom]

Again, a hiss, some static as the unbearably normal voice came online. This time, he sounded like he was flipping through a packet--perhaps a manilla folder.

"I'll get straight to the point this time since none of you seem to appreciate the magnitude of your situation, especially with the jokes being thrown at me today. The new group of patients consists of Zeke Delaney, Kevin Angelov, Aaron Steward, and Anita Dick."

A pause.

"Yes. Haha. I get it."

There was a flurry of papers as they fell from hands, and then the sound as those same hands slammed their palms on the top of a desk. The Head Doctor seemed angry, which meant that some people were about to be miserable.

"Let me tell you, however, that I'm not amused. Nurses, patients, and those certain good children who will turn rotten by the end of the night--I can assure you all that what I'm about to announce is no laughing matter at all."

A window rattled from the force of the storm.

"You! In the Courtyard! Yes, you, the two of you! I can see you from here. You think you're so

[grosse_sklaven]

Adelheid's strong arm seized as he felt that charge gripping him, and his red eyes went wide as his nightmare came to the fore.

"Weak. Adelheid, this is what happens to weak people." His father, Rugal Bernstein, standing tall and with his false eye gleaming, holding the broken body of a fighter who had challenged him. Then he let go, and there was a hiss of molten metal, a rush of steam, one final scream as the man was forever encased in metal...

...repeated over, and over, and over again.

"Weak. Adelheid..." Here the boy was dangling over that same metallic pool, now with his father's false arm holding him around the throat, metallic fingers digging into his skin. "If you are unable to protect yourself, this is the fate awaiting you."

That was all that was obtained before the intercom broke in, and Adelheid blinked in confusion. There was someone coming? He slowly shook his head, trying to regain his composure after the memory of his father. "What... what was that?"