Day 43: Chapel
And just like that, the disorienting feeling of blacking out just to wake up in an unfamiliar bed came again. Alkaid had wondered if it would - everything about last night had been different, all the way from the zombies to the eerie emptiness of the Institute to the strange broadcast at the end of the night. Had the Head Doctor been shot? Damn,
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The door to the room opened and a woman wearing white entered. A human. The hybrid's lip twitched in something that could have been a sneer before it disappeared. She was being kept in this place by humans? This made no sense to her. In fact, this human didn't even seem to know what the Organization was or what a 'Claymore' was. She even so much as insisted that Teresa's name was really Nina.
Unlike some of the other warriors Teresa knew, she did not lash out at this human and the situation she was in. She'd observe and then see what to do. So, when she was lead into a room dedicated to the ridiculous human obsession with gods, the hybrid did not sit down. She stood against the back wall and watched the room with silver eyes.
Did they expect her to pray to a god that required its chosen people to create monsters like her?
[free!]
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He shivered. Suddenly eating didn't seem all that appealing.
The best thing he could do for himself now, he decided eventually, was give himself something to take his mind off of everything that had happened. Placing the usual notice to check on everyone he knew, he let his nurse take him somewhere new: the chapel? Wasn't that some kind of Earthian religious thing? Now was his chance to find out.
Kibitoshin stepped into the room gingerly, as though even the sound of his steps could rip straight through the floorboards. The room was all marble engravings and intricate gilded edges, and overhead he could see an organ just waiting to be played. None of it furthered his understanding of what the room was actually for at all. Maybe it was just somewhere to be quiet?
Footsteps light, he slipped around the back of one of the pews and stood at what he hoped was a respectful from a blonde woman, who, strangely enough, didn't seem to be all that interested in doing whatever it was you were supposed to do in here. That didn't mean she wasn't busy, of course. Kibitoshin gave her a hopeful, apologetic smile. "Is it okay if I stand here?"
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"I have no objection," she replied.
If the man was expecting further conversation from her, he would have to wait as she picked up on the presence of another hybrid nearby. It wasn't a youki signature she recognized, though there was something about it of great interest to the Number One. Leaning back against the wall, Teresa's eyes flickered to the blonde woman with the short, somewhat shaggy hair and a matching set of silver eyes walk into the room. That was all the visual she needed, so Teresa no longer looked in the other hybrid's direction.
A faint smile touched her lips. I'll have to keep an eye on her.
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Kibitoshin! You're staring! Cheeks colouring slightly he forced himself to find something else to watch. When he'd decided to find something else to occupy him, that hadn't meant sticking his nose into other people's business. Especially not when he still had the puzzle of the chapel to solve.
He could always ask the woman. Even if she didn't know it would at least have been interesting to gauge a few opinions. But she seemed so calm, so composed; it was difficult to think that someone with her confidence had just stumbled into here by accident. Like he had. "Um... I'm sorry if I'm interrupting you, but do you know what this place is for?"
It was only after the words left his lips that Kibitoshin even realised how ridiculous he sounded. Great.
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"Are you referring to this particular room or the building as a whole?"
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He stopped. Was that really his attempt to sound more normal? He hoped not. Swiftly, he stuck out a hand in the vain hope that the situation was salvageable. "I'm sorry, I didn't introduce myself. My name's Kibitoshin."
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"Teresa," she replied in way of introductions. "This room is a human location dedicated to the worship of gods they believe can protect them," she explained. "There are many gods human focus on, but I am unsure as to which one this sanctuary is dedicated to. I am only familiar with a handful of those the humans worship." She was named after one of the Twin Goddesses, but there always had been small offshoots of other divine following.
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The Kaioshin dragged himself back to reality. The odds that Teresa could explain that little quandary to him were nonexistent. "Really? I see! Thank you!" He nodded, glanced back around the chapel again, then tilted his head at her curiously. "Did you come here for that?"
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"No," she replied. "Gods and religion are human institutions that do no longer apply to me. I am here simply because this is where the female led me to."
She paused. "Why are you here?"
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"Me? I guess I was just curious. I've only been here a few days, so I've not really seen much of the place." Especially not when his very first night had gone so disastrously wrong, and then last night... hopefully, third time would be the charm.
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"Ah. What do you think this place is? Any advice you may have for me? I only appeared last night."
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Her questions were good ones, but not the kind of things he was really equipped to answer. Conspiracy theories were beyond him, and frankly he was the one in need of advice. Still, the least he could do was share his own experiences so far.
"Advice...? Well, some of the monsters at night... they're not just monsters. They're from other worlds like all the patients are, but they work for the Institute. If you ever run into something like that, run." Unconsciously, his hand had moved to his shoulder and to the knife wound he'd received two nights before. A cold shiver rippled through him. "I mean it. They're insanely strong."
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Teresa listened and nodded, that faint smile touching her lips again. Perhaps she'd meet some old acquaintances. Still, insanely strong, or some variation thereof, was a term she was used to hearing in reference to herself. It made her curious, to say the least.
"Is that so? In all my years of service, I have never run from a battle. In fact, I've never felt the desire to," she replied with an underlying arrogance. "I don't intend on starting the habit now." Once a coward, always a coward.
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Nonetheless, he persisted. "Maybe not normally, but while you're here you have your powers weakened. You wouldn't be a match for one of them, not alone." Wait a second. Did that come out wrong? He flushed, as if suddenly hearing himself for the first time. "N-not that I'm saying you're weak! Not at all! I bet you're really powerful! But... but... well, you just need to be careful."
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"I am accustomed to fighting without utilizing my youki." An understatement if there ever was one. Teresa had only ever felt the need to release her youki once a year, if only to remind herself that she hadn't forgotten how to do so. "I am no whelp that rushes foolhardy into battles. They did not make me Number One for my looks."
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"I didn't say you were," he answered ruefully, "I just said that you might be at a disadvantage." Nevertheless, all the rue in the world couldn't have stopped him from dropping his gaze into his lap as quickly as possible. Maybe he was overreacting. Just because he hadn't been able to handle one little terrifying doll-monster that didn't mean she couldn't. He wasn't exactly the greatest of-
N-no! Stop right there! It was that kind of thinking that let Franziska walk all over him, and he'd promised her he'd try harder! In the end, though, he just shrugged. "Better safe than sorry. It's really dangerous out there."
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