Night 44: Grand Ballroom

[dahliahasthorns]

[From here]

Dahlia made her way over to the fountain first thing and went to sit down next to it. Believe it or not, her feet were still aching from last night and just because this room never stopped being gorgeous did not mean she stopped being sensible. If there was something going on soon, she needed to be ready for it

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[gald_digger]

At Sync's request, Anise hesitated, then went ahead of him, down the stairs. She didn't like the idea of Sync being behind her, especially given his tendency to sneak up and grab her lately. That, and Sync didn't strike her as being above backstabbing an unsuspecting traveling companion.

The ballroom was just as breathtaking as it had been the night before, though Anise wasn't in the mood to give it much admiration this time. The girl had fallen silent some time ago, unable to tear her mind away from her fears for the night.

Across the massive room, she could see the white marble doors. That was their destination... though Anise guessed that Sync might not want them to go through right away. If he was trying to lure Guy and Claude into a trap, he'd probably wait for them to show up before disappearing behind a door they might not be able to follow them through.

Anise considered trying to rush the group ahead, but then she remembered. There was a good chance she'd die in the next room. Escaping into another room in the basement was

[ran_on_empty]

If Sync was feeling any repercussions from last night then he obviously wasn't showing it, but even his own discomfort held no importance at the moment. He was too busy keeping his senses alert in case Claude or Guy decided to show up early. He'd rather not deal with the idea of the two actually arriving ahead of schedule, but it was a possibility he just couldn't ignore.

This meant setting up everything while he still had the time. Sync walked over to where the other two sat, though he refrained from settling down as well.

"I invited a few more people to join us," Sync answered with a small nod. He'd given Dahlia a very brief summary earlier, so it shouldn't have come as a surprise. "Getting through here last night with just the three of us was a little dangerous, so I thought it'd be smart to travel in a bigger group."

He then glanced over at the southern set doors, frowning slightly.

"Dahlia, can I have the shield?"

[dahliahasthorns]

Aww, she had company! Dollie shot Annie a happy little smile as the girl sat down next to her. It was just so great to have her back! To know that, even after everything they had seen, she was still alive...! Dahlia had been so scared for her! But she was here again, alive and well and being so kind like always! Oh... oh, no. She needed to turn her head away before she started wibbling. It was just too much!

Thankfully, Sync interrupted her act before she vomited at herself. "The shield?" Right now? Tch. Someone wasn't very patient. "Wouldn't it be better to wait for your friends?" She helpfully pointed out, tilting her head as she looked up at him.

But it wouldn't be very lady-like for her to deny him, would it? She'd just have to be more convincing.

"I mean," she began hesitantly, reaching inside the bag to pull out the shield. She didn't fork it over, though. Just held it to herself and watched the light reflect off its curves. "What if something happens when you put them into the door? Shouldn't we all be together...?"

[gald_digger]

Dahlia looked like she was even more on edge than Anise was. She didn't even know what Sync was up to, though, did she? Anise wondered how she was going to take it when she did find out. Probably not well.

"Yeah, Sync, what's the hurry?" Anise chimed in, doing her best to look indifferent while she latched on to the opportunity to inconvenience the God-General, even if just a little bit.

About the only thing left that Anise could hope for was for Guy's group to never show up. If that happened, and Sync really wanted them involved in this, then her group could be left waiting all night. Without moving ahead, none of them would be put in danger. Of course, Guy probably wasn't going to think about it that way. He had every reason to believe something terrible would happen whether he made it or not. And with that being the case, there wasn't much that could possibly stop him from reaching them.

[winged_moon]

[from here]

The great room below was as it had been the last night the three of them had been down there, and just as echoingly quiet as all the other rooms had been since the Sun Room. It felt somehow unnatural to travel in peace, and Yue remained quite alert as he made his way down the stairs and into the room proper. Whoever had been down here before them appeared to have already passed on to...wherever they were going.

Which raised the question - where were they going? The last time they'd gone through that door, so perhaps they should try one of the others. Perhaps the next one in clockwise order, then. He glanced back over his shoulder at the others and gestured in that direction, still trying to remain quiet lest anything be listening.

[giftofstars]

Once again, the safety of the kitchen fled from Sakura and the eeriness of the Grand Ballroom took hold of her. They had only been down there once before, but that time had almost been like a test, which made the basement even more unsettling. Would they come across another test tonight?

Following the contour of the room, Sakura, Yue, and Touya passed the door they had entered previously and ended up at the door at the opposite end of the hall. Even before they had gotten close, the door looked magnificent. Carved with marble angels, Sakura couldn't help but gasp in amazement as they approached. As she observed the doors, her eyes were eventually drawn to two indentations. Once they were in reach of the doors, Sakura went over each indentation with her hand.

"Does something go here?" she asked, still staring at the indentations.

[guardiancomplex]

Touya wandered over to the door with Sakura, looking at the doors she seemed so enthralled with cautiously. He'd seen an angel before, he didn't like seeing them carved on a door like that. The strange indentations especially made him pause. This door was locked, he could feel it. Something about it, though, chilled him a little. He didn't like this door.

"Probably," Touya said, gently putting a hand on Sakura's to try to get her to stop touching the creepy door. For all he knew, it'd open and suck them all in if it was touched.

He looked over his right shoulder at the door opposite the one they went through a few nights ago. That one had angels on it too, but he didn't feel as... uncomfortable looking at that one.

"Let's try that door over there, I think this one needs keys of some kind. One of the openings looks like it needs that weird sword we got the other night." He turned at looked at Yue, "You still have that, right?"

[winged_moon]

The door they'd used last time and the door opposite looked to have the same carvings decorating them, but this one was entirely different. That was interesting enough, but the marks that Sakura pointed out were even more so. If the sword they'd found in the archery range truly did belong in one of the indentations (and it did seem to be the right size, as far as Yue could tell) then what were they supposed to use for the other one

[spandexorgtfo]

[from here]

As Kratos stepped into the ballroom, his eyes widened, mostly from the spectacle of the room itself. It was improbable to think that such a space even existed below a mental asylum, and yet here they were, standing in one of the largest ballrooms he'd ever seen.

It was also one of the most eerie, entirely covered in shades of black or white, and as Kratos moved further into the room's expanse, he got the feeling that something terrible was hiding here.

There were a number of equally ornate doors in the wings of the room, and Kratos glanced toward Hitsugaya. "Any ideas on how to proceed?"

[itstaichoutoyou]

"It looks like we haven't been followed..." As Hitsugaya stepped descended the stairs, he was momentarily awestruck by the grandeur of everything. To think that something this big was hidden underneath the institute... He had been expecting narrow dusty halls, not something of this magnitude. However, he couldn't shake the uneasy feeling he felt when he stepped into the ballroom. If the rumors were true then this place was even more dangerous than the rest of the institute.

Since this was his first time down here, Hitsugaya didn't really know where to go. He'd need to scrounge for some more info on the bulletin board tomorrow, because somehow, he felt Hinamori wasn't being completely forthcoming with him, not that he could blame her.

"We'll head to the east hall. I'll take the lead. Kratos, you'll cover our rear, and Faize, you'll support us with symbology. Alright?" Hitsugaya remembered his earlier conversation with Hinamori and was trying to take it to heart, but he knew that changing his ways wasn't easy.

[faile]

Upon entering the ballroom, Faize stopped in his tracks, unable to do much more than stare at the spectacle before him. While the rest of the building had appeared to be of simple design (and at night, seemed to be in poor repair as well), this was something completely different. Even knowing little of Earthling architecture, Faize found the elegant, spacious room nothing short of impressive.

And also quite telling. He didn't know of any planet on which a room like this would be built in a mental hospital. Though Faize had already seen more than enough to conclude that Landel's was far more than a hospital, this further highlighted it.

"...I understand," he replied once he finished taking in the unusual sight. Taking his position in the group, he followed Hitsugaya to the ornate door at the east end of the room, which opened easily for them.

[to here]