DAY 45: Sun Room (Second Shift)
There was something fishy going on in the Institute today. All over the bulletin board, people were talking about having "woken up", having been "cured"... and it seemed as though ZEX was one of them. Tanaka wouldn't have recognized the note at all if it hadn't been signed - his wording, his handwriting, even his name had changed - and a part of
( Read more... )
Guy was dead. Through her hellish stay at Landel's, the one person who had always been there for her... was gone. Anise didn't know what to think. It just didn't seem real. Her wound from that night had vanished too, without leaving so much as a light scar. It really was like it never happened... but the memory was much too fresh, and too painful, for Anise to believe that for even a second.
The girl wiped the tears from her eyes, and like she did every morning, she shoved her nightshift gear into the usual hiding places. Her hands trembled as she did. The pointed shard she brought in case she needed to use it against Sync... The time of need had come and gone, and she never once reached for it. Even when Sync had his hands around her throat, she didn't have the resolve to try to kill him. Maybe if she hadn't been so reluctant, it wouldn't have come to this...
Anise wrapped her arms around her body and held them there for a minute, waiting for the shaking to stop. The sound of the Head Doctor's voice on the intercom didn't help. That bastard... After everything he did, he was already back to his despicable, cheery act! Anise wanted to kill him more than ever.
"Oh Dolores, you're awake now?"
Anise bristled at the sound of the nurse's voice. She clutched Tokunaga close to her chest, hoping to get some comfort from it. She wasn't in the mood for playing along with the Institute's games today. Really, she wasn't in the mood for talking to anyone. Without a word, she just regarded the woman with a wary look.
"How did you sleep?" The nurse inquired with a concerned look. "You were tossing and turning when I came to get you earlier this morning..." Did that mean she missed breakfast? That was fine with her. Anise didn't feel like eating.
"...I'm fine," she muttered, not looking at the woman.
The nurse didn't look satisfied with that answer, but she didn't push the subject. Instead, she smiled gently at the girl. "Everyone's going to the library now. Do you want to come? Or would you rather go to the Sun Room?"
"I don't want to go anywhere."
This made the woman pause, but it did nothing to dim her smile. "Oh, don't be like that. You can't stay cooped up in your room all day, can you? Come on." Anise could have fought against the nurse's gentle nudging, but she didn't have the strength for it. With the woman's hand on her shoulder, she was guided out of her room, through the halls, and to the Sun Room. Once there, she shrugged the hand away and retreated to a corner in the room, finding a couch that faced the wall.
Still gripping Tokunaga tightly against her chest, the girl curled up on one side of the couch. She wasn't crying anymore, but she didn't know if she could face anyone without starting again.
[for Claude]
Reply
Especially when he thought about how Guy and Dias would never be able to eat anything again.
Hearing the Head Doctor's announcement and the pride that rang so clearly in his voice only made Claude's blood boil again. Martin Landel. Once he was through with Sync, Claude told himself, that bastard was next on his list. He didn't expect it to be easy by any means. Perhaps it'd be more grueling that his battle against the Ten Wise Men, but he had to keep telling himself it would be possible to have his revenge, to put an end to this madness. Focusing on that distant hope was the only thing keeping himself from completely losing his composure right then, and some part of him was grateful for it.
He could hear the nurse lecturing him as they walked out of the cafeteria together, but Claude's attention drifted away from her and onto the captives who'd gathered in the sun room. Many of the faces were of people he'd seen in passing, and yet his own gaze scarcely glossed over them, as if he was unable to fully take in their presence. Suddenly Claude felt tired at the prospect of having to socialize under constant supervision. More than anything he felt like he needed some time to himself so he could properly grieve over what had happened last night. But of course he couldn't even be provided that sort of luxury here.
"--don't you find a book?" The nurse's voice suddenly filtered into his thoughts, and Claude turned back toward her. "The library should be okay for you so long as you don't get into anymore trouble."
"No," he answered, perhaps a little more firmly than he would have liked. There were memories of words exchanged over old, musty science-fiction classics that Claude didn't want to recall today. Somehow, though, that realization made his voice quieter, though rather strained as well. "N-no, I'm...I'll be okay in here."
They parted ways, and he moved to grab a seat on one of the couches before someone else did. Once he caught sight of the girl curled up on the couch, however, he grew still, his heart twisting in his chest.
Oh, Anise...
He'd been so wrapped up in his own grief and anger that he'd barely given any consideration to someone who'd obviously suffered more than he had at Sync's hands. No doubt Anise had relied on Guy for support within Landel's walls. They'd known each other before their abduction and were good friends, after all. Not only that, but Anise was young -- too young for an awful place like this.
This wasn't the time for him to want to isolate himself. The failure to stop Sync from hurting Anise rested squarely on his shoulders now.
Gently, Claude settled down onto the other side of the couch, far enough to where he wasn't crowding the girl, but close enough to where his presence would be felt. He didn't say anything just yet, deciding it would be best not to force a potentially unwanted conversation onto her right away.
Reply
Claude. While Anise had been devastated by the events last night, she realized she wasn't the only one. Claude lost two friends that night. However miserable Anise felt, Claude had to feel just as bad, if not worse. Knowing that, she couldn't exactly blow him off.
The girl straightened in her seat, with her legs dangling over the edge of the couch, a few inches above the floor. There wasn't any hope of her picking up the cheerful act she'd normally put forth whenever she was feeling down, but she at least wanted to look like she wasn't a total mess. She turned her head a bit to look at him, but she wound up just looking at his knees. It was hard to bring her gaze up to meet his face.
"Claude..."
Anise tried using her voice, and it came out okay, but she realized she couldn't think of what else to say to the guy. She probably owed him some thanks for coming to save her, an apology for helping Sync set up his stupid trap in the first place, maybe some explanations for how it all came together in such a horrible way... Maybe there were a lot of things she should have been saying.
But the thoughts in her head were all jumbled still, and she didn't know how or where to begin, or if she could even complete a thought without getting upset again. An awkward silence, which was wholly unusual for Anise, followed.
Reply
Another bitter pill that was difficult to swallow was the fact that they'd failed to help her by letting Sync make it to that south door. If they'd only been a few moments faster, perhaps all of this could have been avoided. But they hadn't caught him in time, Guy and Dias had paid the ultimate price, and he and Anise were left to pick up the pieces.
It was good to see her sitting up, but Claude couldn't help but wonder if it was a brave front for his sake. He supposed, in some ways, he was doing the same thing for her. Besides, all anyone needed to do was see her averted gaze and take note of the silence to understand just a fragment of the pain she was in right now.
In any case, Anise's health was the most important thing. Everything else could fall into place later.
Claude regarded her with concern. His own wounds had been healed, but that didn't necessarily mean Anise had been as fortunate. Although she appeared physically all right, he felt like he ought to make sure just in case. "Are you still injured?" he asked.
Reply
Guy was sort of like that, too. That's why he wouldn't listen when Anise told him not to go after Sync, when he knew hostages were involved...
Anise shook her head. "No. What about you?" She raised her chin to get a better look at him, though she still wouldn't look him in the eyes. There weren't any obvious signs of injuries, and she hoped that meant he was in decent shape. Although... if Claude was healed, the same would probably go for Sync, too. And if Sync was back to 100%, then who knew what his next move would be?
Reply
As for Claude himself, he was more than all right. The burns and gashes he'd sustained during his fight with Dias were completely gone, as if the battle hadn't happened. Although he knew he should have been grateful not to have to deal with injuries on top of everything that had happened, it was hard not to contrast that to how battered Guy had been by the time he'd breathed his last.
It didn't seem fair that he'd woken up unscathed after Dias had sacrificed himself, that he'd been spared while Guy had been brutally killed. But what could he do? Lamenting the fact he was alive wasn't right, either, no matter how horrible he felt. More than anything, he just wished that they'd been able to find a way to stop Sync without losing anyone. But there was no more use in obsessing over what-ifs than there was in wondering why he wasn't dead.
"I'm fine," Claude assured her. "My injuries are all gone today." Claude decided to omit that he'd also seen Sync in fine health this morning -- no doubt Anise had already pieced things together for herself. At least he was able to take some satisfaction over the black eye the bastard was going to sport for the rest of the day. Not even the two orderlies who were keeping an eye on him from a small distance away could diminish that.
The way Anise was avoiding his gaze was a little worrisome, though, and Claude tilted his head a little, hoping that maybe their eyes would meet. "And the other girl?" he gently prodded. "Do you know if she's all right?"
Reply
Claude's next question took Anise by surprise, and managed to break through the girl's hesitation to talk. He really had no idea, did he?
"Dahlia?" she asked, incredulous. "Who cares about that faker? She'd be better off dead." After what Dahlia did, she last thing she deserved was anyone's concern or sympathy. Even though her role in the two deaths wasn't as direct as Sync or Landel's, it was her stupid victim act that got everything started. And in the end, all she had to do was sit and watch as the men who came to "save" her got killed, one after another. And laugh.
Anise would never forgive her.
When her eyes finally met Claude's, they were sharp with hatred, though there were still traces of tears around them. "She played all of us for idiots. If I see her again, I'll kill her!"
Reply
And yet, he had to take pause at what, exactly, Anise was implying -- not because it was difficult to understand, but because it was so shocking to consider.
"Wait, are you saying she wasn't really a hostage?!" Anger at the realization tinged his words. In the corner of his eye he noticed the orderlies shifting from where they stood. Claude made sure to lower his voice as he leaned in a little closer to Anise. "You mean...she was working with Sync this whole time?"
It was one thing to be taken in by the replica's facade, but for him to have an actual ally? Claude never would have thought it possible. And yet if what Anise was saying was true, then this Sync problem was even larger than he'd ever imagined. Dealing with him alone was hard enough. If he was capable of getting people to willingly sign up for his crazy schemes, then it was doubly important to get rid of him, not only for revenge, but in order to make sure this kind of disaster never happened again.
Reply
"I... I went along with Sync because he had Dahlia for a hostage. I thought she was just some girl he roped into his stupid scheme." She looked back down to her lap, fidgeting by tracing her fingers along the stitches on Tokunaga's head. It was embarrassing to admit she'd been fooled by some nice girl act, and it was especially frustrating, knowing how much disaster would have been avoided if she'd caught on sooner.
"But she was in on it from the start. She tricked everyone with her innocent act, led us into a trap, and... and then she laughed while she watched your friend die!"
Realizing she might have just blurted out something Claude didn't want to be reminded of, Anise stopped and took a few breaths to calm herself down. It was important that Claude understood just how rotten Dahlia was, but it wasn't going to do much good to get too worked up. Even though it did do a little good for her, she realized. Getting angry seemed to have kicked her out of her quiet, sulky emotional rut.
Reply
He listened to Anise's explanation with a stony expression, willing himself not to betray the white-hot anger that bubbled up from the pit of his stomach. So she had been using Anise just as much as Sync had. It was easy enough just to feel outraged on Anise's behalf, but when she described the way the girl had laughed -- laughed! -- at the carnage that had been waged partly for her sake, the name Dahlia seared itself into his memory as hotly as Sync's had when he'd first heard it from Guy.
Someday she, too, would pay for what she'd done.
"That's horrible..." he managed to say after a moment, though his voice was tight with the knowledge that they really all had been played for fools. "Why the hell would she do something like that, though?" The question was more to himself than anyone, and Claude shook his head, clearly at a loss. What could this Dahlia have possibly gained from working with someone as unhinged as Sync? If anything, you'd have to worry about getting stabbed in the back by a guy like that, right?
Maybe Dahlia was just as insane, he thought. But there was no way for him to try to understand the workings of so sick a mind, was there. They'd just have to learn to not fall for something like that again from either of them...
Too bad they had to lose Dias and Guy to learn such an important lesson, he thought miserably.
Reply
"I wish I knew. There has to be something in it for her, right?" Unless she was twisted enough to go along with Sync's plan just for the sake of seeing a bunch of people suffer. Though Anise couldn't claim to know her that well, she didn't seem to be the sort to willingly put herself in danger for something that petty... Did Sync promise her something in return?
Anise half-sighed, half-groaned as she thought about it. "And it's not like Sync to work with other people, either..." Being a general, he worked with others when he had to, but for the most part, he seemed to keep to himself. Anise never would have imagined he'd have an accomplice here. That was why all of this caught her off guard so easily... The God-General was just too unpredictable!
Reply
"I suppose we'll have to sort through that ourselves," he said quietly.
For now, Claude was still mostly concerned about Anise. Did she blame herself for what happened? Imagining himself in her shoes wasn't even all that necessary -- he'd been fooled by Sync just as much as she had, and more than once, at that. He'd wasted a lot of energy beating himself up over it between then and now, Claude realized. As for Anise herself, her anger had shaken her out of the awkward silence from earlier, but that didn't give Claude a lot of insight into how she was really dealing with this.
The blond gave a small sigh and shifted a little in his seat. "How's...the rest of you holding up, though?" he slowly asked after a brief moment. Last night had been nothing short of horrific. They both had witnessed the brutal spectacle that had been Guy's death, but it seemed Sync had turned most of his sick attention on Anise during the ordeal.
Reply
"...I'm fine," she answered quietly, still looking downward. She obviously wasn't fine, but what right did she have to complain? Guy was the one who suffered the most that night, and it was partly her fault. Anise couldn't even imagine what he must have been feeling in his last moments...
Thinking about it made something inside Anise's chest clench uncomfortably. She crossed her arms, reaching around her body as though to ward off some unnatural chill. She knew she wasn't doing a good job of looking like she was fine, but it was hard enough just trying to keep herself from tearing up again.
Reply
And yet, it honestly pained him to see Anise struggle to keep her grief bottled in like that. He understood what a burden that could be on someone, and how unhealthy it could be to just sweep one's problems under the rug. Still, after everything that she'd been through, the fact that she managed to find the energy to hold herself together at all was really quite remarkable.
"You know, I think you're a really brave person, Anise," Claude told her after a moment.
Reply
Anise shook her head. "Me?" She made a nasal sound, though it was unclear if it was a snort or a sniffle.
"If I were a brave person, I wouldn't have let Sync use me without standing up to him... and I would have told Guy everything when I had the chance!" But she didn't, and he came after Sync without knowing anything about the situation, and the result was a disaster. Maybe if she told him the truth instead, things would have been different.
What else could she have done? She could have run away, or not shown up as Sync demanded. She could have fought back against Sync. She should have realized Dahlia was lying sooner.
Could have, should have... Anise didn't know if any of those things really were plausible, or if they would have led to such a different result. But Anise couldn't help but regret every single decision she had made in the past two days. Somewhere among them, there had to have been something she did wrong. Something that, if she'd done it differently, Guy would still be alive.
"I'm not brave at all..." Anise could feel wetness in her eyes, and she quickly wiped it away. She couldn't let herself cry in front of Claude.
Reply
"But you thought an innocent person was in danger," he gently pointed out. "You only went along with Sync's game because you didn't want to see anybody get hurt. I'd call definitely call that a brave thing to do."
Anise couldn't be faulted for the fact that the the person she'd been trying to save wound up using her as much as Sync himself had. If anything, the only people who'd done anything wrong were Sync and Dahlia themselves for treating someone like Anise so despicably.
His heart ached to see her on the verge of tears like that, but he wasn't going to look down on her if she needed to find that sort of release. Instead, he removed his headband, and his bangs fell over his eyes as he discreetly handed the cloth to Anise in case she needed to use it.
"You know," he said, his voice quiet and slow, "Sync tricked me pretty bad once. I spent a long time beating myself up about it afterward, thinking that I should have caught onto it sooner, or that I shouldn't have allowed myself to be used so easily." Claude paused as he idly brushed some of his hair out of his face. "But now I've come to realize that he tries to make people feel ashamed for possessing qualities that make them strong."
Reply
Leave a comment