Night 48: Main Hallway 1-West

[sdatislife]

[From here.]Shinji paused at the major hallway, playing the beam of his flashlight over the walls. This was familiar by now. He'd come through this hallway a couple times before and it was usually as far as he'd gotten into the institute at night. Usually he just stopped - he didn't particularly want to find out how far the corruption went or

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[hasnomeaning]

[from here]

Silence had stretched to this hall, the murmur of voices from places unseen slid as echoes. Darkness gathered, and Ayanami switched on the flashlight, a dull yellow circle gracefully the floor. Another circle glowed faintly nearby, and she shifted her gaze upward. Should she have been surprised?

The girl trod forward, stopping a few feet away. "Ikari."

[sdatislife]

Shinji glanced down the hallway nervously. Had he been waiting long enough? Maybe he ought to move on. He swung his head back to look the other way and nearly jumped in surprise as he realized someone else had crept up on him while he'd been distracted by his own thoughts. It wasn't nearly as surprising once he realized that it was Rei. For a moment something like relief spread over his features. "Rei!"

He was happy to see her. She was a familiar face among a sea of strangers and darkness and even though his guilt and shame at watching her die burned and twisted a knot in his belly he managed to smile. "H-how are you?"

Silly question, really.

[hasnomeaning]

The reaction to her self was not unpleasant. As before, the slightest warmth seeped into her expression; the stillness that resided softening fractionally. And her response to his query? She was the same as she had been, despite the contradictions made. Despite another that she had came into contact with, that claimed to be like herself.

She glanced the hall and back. "Confused," she admitted softly. Was this something that happened often?

[sdatislife]

Had he caught the hints of a smile on her face? No, impossible. Ayanami never smiled. Well. She had before, but they were so rare....

Shinji tried to focus. Kaworu was missing. This place was being just as weird as it always was. They had to do something. He had to do something. Sitting and letting it happen would be worse. As much as the thought of being hurt or getting others hurt or being lost and alone terrified him, the idea that he might let another of his friends die or get hurt terrified him even more.

"...ye-yeah. I understand. This place gets... uh, well it gets kind of weird at night."

He frowned. "...h-have you met Kaworu yet?"

[number1smiley]

[from here]

Early again. Teresa wondered if this was going to be the norm for when she worked with the History Club. Not that she minded being early. It gave her a tactical advantage... except in this case where she wasn't sure who she was waiting for. Well, Teresa was tall with a piece of bedframe as long as she was tall strapped across her back as a weapon. She'd be easy to pick out.

Adopting a place against a wall, Teresa waited.

[screwthegods]

[ From here]

Few patients had been lingering in the corridors until now, and with no monsters in sight, Homura made quick time. Of course he knew better than to count on that sort of luck from here on, particularly given how frequently all paths to the cafeteria were guarded by some seemingly unstoppable force. That only made the mystery of the basement all the more alluring, of course. Whatever was in there, Landel felt it worthy enough to protect. Whether that was because of the actual value of what could be gained, or to further direct the patients in the game, Homura was willing to find out for himself.

Teresa was the first to have arrived, and Homura didn't mask his presence as he approached. Even with the makeshift weapon, she maintained her formidable appearance, something of which Homura certainly approved. "Good evening." The concerns and trials of his day masked behind a confident smirk, Homura bowed his head once he joined the woman. "I hope you haven't been waiting too long."

[number1smiley]

Eyes tracking the movement as Homura approached, Teresa's lips turned up when she saw who it was. It hadn't been very clear on the board post if the demigod was part of the group she was to be with or not, so she was pleased to see that he was.

"You arrived far faster than anyone else I have had to wait for," Teresa replied. "Seeing you has taken me out of the foul mood I've been in most of the day."

[screwthegods]

[Sorry about the delay!]"Unfortunately, getting distracted is far too common an occurrence." One Homura had been guilty of the night before, in fact. Now, however, they were waiting on Okita and Kenren. While Homura knew the Taisho might take his time, Okita's delay was slightly more concerning. Well aware of what the rooms upstairs would be used for that night, Homura eyed the staircase, wondering if their group would be struck at again

[antiheroed]

[from here]

Now to wait. There were a couple of other people here-Shinji, who he recognized in the distance-but Riku had no plans to bother them. His breath came out quickly, and he could tell his heart was racing. When they had a chance to go outside again, he'd have to run a few laps in order to get himself into shape. It wouldn't do him any good if he allowed for the limitations to win. That also just meant that he would probably end up sprinting to his meeting points every night.

He realized Sora would probably start doing the same thing, or that Sora was probably used to the limitations so he wouldn't need to train. Then again, Sora was the lazy one. Would he really go all that work for nothing? It was worth considering, but he knew he wouldn't entertain the thought out loud around his friend once he arrived. It wasn't easy joking around in a place like this. Riku found it awkward enough to do already

[scintillatingly]

[From here.]

There were the stairs! The weak beam coming from his flashlight illuminated them, just as they did practically every night. Sora had been using this as a meeting spot for a long time now -- well, except for when he'd been working to get to that quarry with Allen. Speaking of which, where had Allen been lately? Sora hadn't seen his name on the Arts and Crafts lists recently. Was it possible that something had happened? He didn't really want to consider that possibility right now.

Besides, he was distracted when he realized that he wasn't the first one to make it to the rendezvous point tonight. There was Riku, sitting against the wall as if he had no fear. Probably because he didn't, but that attitude wasn't going to get him very far. Even though Sora felt a little exasperated to see that his friend wasn't taking things seriously, in the end he couldn't be anything but happy to see the older boy. They hadn't managed to run into each other earlier today, after all

[antiheroed]

"It wasn't anything to write home about," Riku replied, standing up quickly. It was nice to have the rest-he didn't look tired anymore, which was a bit of a relief. "I spoke to Kairi at breakfast. She's sorry about what happened." He paused, glancing away, because he wasn't sure what to say about that. There wasn't anything to be sorry about. Even if now that he allowed himself to think about it, the same, dull pain still existed in his shoulder. It wasn't like Kairi made a choice to have that happen to her. "She shouldn't be. Gotta make sure she realizes that

[kingdomless]

(running from here.)

Kairi was out of breath by the time she reached the hallway with the appointed area, and lo and behold, there were her friends. Sighing with relief at the sight that everything was okay, she slowed down and moved towards them. "Sorry, I guess I had fallen asleep during dinner."

The air was somewhat tense around them, and Kairi slowed to a stop between the two boys. A look of confusion crossed her face, and she tilted her head to the side slightly, frowning. "What are you two talking about?" Turning her head, she turned and mocked Riku's serious face. "So serious. What's wrong? Did I miss something?"

Turning her gaze to Sora, she noted that at least he looked okay. Nothing wrong ...

Kairi was almost tempted to ask Riku how his shoulder felt, but she knew he probably just wanted to forget about that incident, just as she did.

[itneverwas]

[From here]Once more, Xemnas wandered into what was part of familiar territory by now. His orange eyes gazed around the area, noting the small number of patients to be already present. The small beams of light provided by their flashlight pierced the darkness, but he disregarded them as he swept his own over the walls, determining whether a threat lay in wait

[perfectrecord]

[From here]

After a thankfully uneventful trip through the north-south hall, von Karma soon arrived at the intersection to the main hallway. Save for a lone woman emerging from the prosecutor's former patient block, he had seen no one en route.

By contrast, the main hallway was busy. Several patients were standing around, although they were engaged in their own matters and thus paid him no attention. He found the place near the stairwell where he had agreed to meet Mr. Scar, but there was no sign of the swarthy man yet. Hmph. What did he expect from the lazy lion who spent most of the afternoon shift lounging around in the Sun Room?

Very well. The prosecutor would wait a short period of time for Scar, but not for too long. He wanted to hurry to their destination before any of the monsters could present themselves. As he recalled the blade-wielding clockwork demon from two nights ago, his jaw clenched. That was an incident he didn't care to repeat.

Several minutes passed. Where in blazes was Scar?! This tardiness was

[itneverwas]

No threat lay in wait, yet the number of patients within this area slowly increased. Blending in with the darkness while accomplishing missions was the way the Organization usually acted. Yet, walking these familiar paths was less efficient in this situation. No, to acquire the knowledge he was seeking, he needed to interact with these patients, to question them for information.

Eventually, the Superior's gaze fell upon a lone man standing near the stairwell. It was a man older than most of the patient populace, his age seemingly near that of Ansem the Wise judging by mere appearances. His posture was one of annoyance, impatience, tapping his foot and clutching his own arm as if he was waiting. Narrowed eyes only seemed to emphasize the fact that this man was not in the greatest of moods. Obviously, this man was one that, as with many, still retained emotion, an existence

[perfectrecord]

Fifty-nine seconds, by von Karma's count. Still no sign of Mr. Scar. Just as he set his cane back to the floor and pulled away from the wall to return to his room, he suddenly became aware of a figure who seemed to have materialized right in front of him. Of course, von Karma had been looking around for a lanky, black-haired, green-eyed fool instead of... this well-toned, silver-haired, orange-eyed man standing before him. Furthermore, neither the person's actions nor his question were threatening, so it was only now that von Karma had really noticed him

[see_my_back]

[[from here]]

It didn't take long to reach the main hallway. The light from other patients moving about was plenty to see by, so she reserved the light in hers for when she actually would need it. Ninja ought to be able to travel by cover of night even in the worst circumstances, even knowing they had enemies waiting in the darkness. It was mostly a last resort or even a weapon if it came down to that.

Still, there were more important things to be considering. Sasuke's map for instance, just what would it show them? She had a good idea of the layout for the building and for the town they'd visited before. While she didn't have a map, she could probably trace the route and roads they'd taken to get to the town on the bus, though it would take longer on foot. Hopefully the map would still be useful to them.

[see_my_back]

[[to here]]