Breakfast. Real breakfast. She could have kissed Landel himself if he'd shown up. Food that tasted like food, and her appetite -- for real food -- had returned and was wreaking vengeance up and down her stomach.
Though perhaps she'd overdone it, as no one had taken the seat next to her as she plowed through a stack of waffles almost as large as her head. Their loss. She bounced into the sun room, and headed to the board to see if Okita had posted anything yet. She checked the posts -- and then checked them again.
Nothing. Her brow knitted -- she trusted Okita, but he was increasingly absent, and that wasn't a good sign. Or a good way to run a club. She sighed, her good mood deflating a bit. None of the officers were around -- most of the faces in the room were unfamiliar, or were people she'd seen only in passing. It was...strange.
Utena had spent breakfast alone, in heavy contemplation of the night's events. She had to admit, for all the danger they had gone through to get down to the basement, and all the more they had risked once down there... she kind of wanted to go back. Getting down there and through it a bit had actually felt like an accomplishment. And that was way better than she could say for most places in the Institute. It was especially good considering that with the return of Landel, Utena felt like the patients had all been forced to take a few great big steps backward. Sure, having a good breakfast again felt good, but she couldn't say she felt the same about hearing that guy's voice over the intercom again
( ... )
"'Bout the same, more or less." She hadn't worried about Utena -- the young woman could demonstrably take care of herself -- but she was glad to see her again. Her smile was still somewhat exasperated, but not at her.
"I'm worried about the History Club, though. We've been losing leaders like clockwork, and I haven't seen Okita today. Yet." He'd been later to wake than this before, but the organization was unwinding, looser and looser every day.
"Though I've had more luck getting things done without them." True, if not necessarily kind. "I just don't know."
"Ah, I see," she answered, lacing her hands behind her head with slightly widened eyes. "I hadn't really been following the History Club. I never really knew what was going on with you guys outside seeing the usual big announcements, sorry." She had never met Okita, but was sure she had seen or heard the name around somewhere. He was the leader of the club at the moment, then, she gathered. What kind of person was he to lead a group that sounded like mostly big-time fighters, she wondered?
Then Taura mentioned something that caught her attention a little more strongly. "You felt that too, huh?" Utena had to admit, she had also gotten a lot more done by herself or just with her friends than she had working with the Cooking Club, which had pretty much fallen apart before anything major had gotten done anyway. "What do you usually do with the History guys?" she asked, honestly curious now.
"Hit up the basement. Run of bad luck every time I went with the club, but I made it down there with some friends."
The key Homura had had wasn't common knowledge, and whether Okita still had it another question. So she picked her next words carefully. "We used to work on weapons for club members, but we haven't done that recently. All of the, er, magic weapon makers are gone." Which was the truth. Her first mission had been metal-gathering. It just wasn't all of the truth, a shading she hadn't ever become completely comfortable doing, but she understood the necessity.
A flash of dark hair bobbing through the patients near the board caught her eye, and she grinned. "Looks like I was worried for nothing. Back before you can miss me."
She scrawled a note to Okita, pinned it up, and made good on that promise. "How have you been?"
Now that was an attention-grabber, way more than the bit about the clubs. Utena couldn't get a word in about it before Taura had to go to the bulletin, though. She stood waiting for the taller woman to come back, just itching to ask. Thankfully, Taura wasn't long, and she came back ready with an opening for Utena to ask her questions.
"Well, pretty overwhelmed by last night, that's for sure. But a few other patients and I managed to get out of it after beating back a bunch of the monsters. You'll never guess where we ended up," she answered, giving Taura a nod to confirm that yes, she was talking about the place Taura thought she was talking about. She continued after a short pause: "I have one of those red rings that leads down there. Never used it before last night, though. Guess I know it works now."
Last night was not something Taura wanted to talk about. She would, if she had to, to those who could be endangered by it. But she was hoping it was over, and Utena hadn't been there. So she was grateful when Utena moved the conversation back to safer ground.
"That would be a help." Rita had one, although they hadn't actually used it the night they'd made it down there. "I like a good fight, but I'd rather be fighting my enemies rather than my friends, you know?"
There had been a lot of doors, though, and they'd only tried one. "What did you find down there?"
Utena wasn't sure what Taura meant by her comment about enemies and friends. Something to do with brainwashed patients, or something else? She was going to assume that for now, because she could definitely sympathize in that case. "Don't I know it," Utena answered with a sigh, thinking back to Himemiya on that night.
After a moment, she realized Taura had asked another question. "Eh? Oh, sorry. Yeah, we found something interesting all right. Do you know what a Sphinx is?" Utena asked. "Because that's what we found. It was just... sitting there waiting for us, and it gave us a riddle to answer in exchange for a prize." She would have said something about how weird or surprising that was, but really, was it that weird compared to anything else she'd seen in Ohtori or Landel's by now?
"Really? That's the...chimera, isn't it? That told riddles?" Taura's voice was suddenly glum. Chimera was, genetically, not an accurate word for what she was, but it was closer than most. Her genes were just the same hodgepodge all the way to the bone, that was all.
"I guess that's down the hallway we didn't try." Great. Son Goku was many things, but a master of riddles, no. Taura was fairly comfortable making that call without asking him. She was smart, and so was Rita, but riddles took knowing the culture. If she'd even remembered which story the Sphinx went with correctly to begin with.
"The other one had a null-G combat arena. Kind of a weird thing to find dirtside." She still sounded like she was reading off a form letter rather than describing her own experience, but she knew it wasn't Utena's fault. She hadn't put the thing there. And she'd had even less to do with making it be a slightly more apt comparison with what Taura usually saw in the mirror than anyone else.
"Yeah, something like that," Utena answered with a nod when Taura likened the creature to a chimera. It wasn't quite the right thing, but she could tell Taura had the right idea. If she were ever to come up against the Sphinx, she would at least know what she was in for.
"And what's a null-G combat arena?" she asked after that, now curious to know what was beyond the hall they hadn't tried.
She managed a smile, at that, though it was a little wavery. Utena hadn't meant it to hit on her personal weakness, and she didn't want anyone to know it was one, not when she could hide it. It wasn't exactly something she could hide, on the outside, when her very face betrayed her origins, and asking about them was natural.
"Exactly what it sounds like. Big room for fighting, anti-gravity generators to make it free fall." That was simple enough of an explanation, right? Maybe a little more would help. "We were fighting while floating in mid-air."
The intercom clicked on, interrupting them, and patients began to file towards where they were handing out lunchboxes. "Good luck, yeah? Thanks for letting me know about the Sphinx."
Though perhaps she'd overdone it, as no one had taken the seat next to her as she plowed through a stack of waffles almost as large as her head. Their loss. She bounced into the sun room, and headed to the board to see if Okita had posted anything yet. She checked the posts -- and then checked them again.
Nothing. Her brow knitted -- she trusted Okita, but he was increasingly absent, and that wasn't a good sign. Or a good way to run a club. She sighed, her good mood deflating a bit. None of the officers were around -- most of the faces in the room were unfamiliar, or were people she'd seen only in passing. It was...strange.
[free!]
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"I'm worried about the History Club, though. We've been losing leaders like clockwork, and I haven't seen Okita today. Yet." He'd been later to wake than this before, but the organization was unwinding, looser and looser every day.
"Though I've had more luck getting things done without them." True, if not necessarily kind. "I just don't know."
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Then Taura mentioned something that caught her attention a little more strongly. "You felt that too, huh?" Utena had to admit, she had also gotten a lot more done by herself or just with her friends than she had working with the Cooking Club, which had pretty much fallen apart before anything major had gotten done anyway. "What do you usually do with the History guys?" she asked, honestly curious now.
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The key Homura had had wasn't common knowledge, and whether Okita still had it another question. So she picked her next words carefully. "We used to work on weapons for club members, but we haven't done that recently. All of the, er, magic weapon makers are gone." Which was the truth. Her first mission had been metal-gathering. It just wasn't all of the truth, a shading she hadn't ever become completely comfortable doing, but she understood the necessity.
A flash of dark hair bobbing through the patients near the board caught her eye, and she grinned. "Looks like I was worried for nothing. Back before you can miss me."
She scrawled a note to Okita, pinned it up, and made good on that promise. "How have you been?"
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Now that was an attention-grabber, way more than the bit about the clubs. Utena couldn't get a word in about it before Taura had to go to the bulletin, though. She stood waiting for the taller woman to come back, just itching to ask. Thankfully, Taura wasn't long, and she came back ready with an opening for Utena to ask her questions.
"Well, pretty overwhelmed by last night, that's for sure. But a few other patients and I managed to get out of it after beating back a bunch of the monsters. You'll never guess where we ended up," she answered, giving Taura a nod to confirm that yes, she was talking about the place Taura thought she was talking about. She continued after a short pause: "I have one of those red rings that leads down there. Never used it before last night, though. Guess I know it works now."
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"That would be a help." Rita had one, although they hadn't actually used it the night they'd made it down there. "I like a good fight, but I'd rather be fighting my enemies rather than my friends, you know?"
There had been a lot of doors, though, and they'd only tried one. "What did you find down there?"
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After a moment, she realized Taura had asked another question. "Eh? Oh, sorry. Yeah, we found something interesting all right. Do you know what a Sphinx is?" Utena asked. "Because that's what we found. It was just... sitting there waiting for us, and it gave us a riddle to answer in exchange for a prize." She would have said something about how weird or surprising that was, but really, was it that weird compared to anything else she'd seen in Ohtori or Landel's by now?
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"I guess that's down the hallway we didn't try." Great. Son Goku was many things, but a master of riddles, no. Taura was fairly comfortable making that call without asking him. She was smart, and so was Rita, but riddles took knowing the culture. If she'd even remembered which story the Sphinx went with correctly to begin with.
"The other one had a null-G combat arena. Kind of a weird thing to find dirtside." She still sounded like she was reading off a form letter rather than describing her own experience, but she knew it wasn't Utena's fault. She hadn't put the thing there. And she'd had even less to do with making it be a slightly more apt comparison with what Taura usually saw in the mirror than anyone else.
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"And what's a null-G combat arena?" she asked after that, now curious to know what was beyond the hall they hadn't tried.
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"Exactly what it sounds like. Big room for fighting, anti-gravity generators to make it free fall." That was simple enough of an explanation, right? Maybe a little more would help. "We were fighting while floating in mid-air."
The intercom clicked on, interrupting them, and patients began to file towards where they were handing out lunchboxes. "Good luck, yeah? Thanks for letting me know about the Sphinx."
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