Day 27: Library

[not_rly_fai]

Libraries, he'd found, were rarely as dull as people made them out to be.  Though he felt no magic in these tomes, they were still full of useful information.  Maybe some of them could tell him a little bit more about this world he'd landed himself in.

For that matter, why hadn't he run into any of the others yet?  They'd all been fairly close

Comments

[roses_bleues]

Diva didn't like being the last, to stand and do nothing at the back of a crowd; it was like the ebbing of the tide when all the humans picked up and left for another area

[roses_bleues]

"Change is... interesting," repeated the Chiropteran. Change was an abstract thought to her, not something someone of her background had the skills to consider rationally. To her, change was just years passing, or bodies converting.

Mmm, to leave would be nice... But~

"But where am I? Did Amshel say to be good? I woke up not long ago and everyone was gone... and then these awful humans put a needle in me again. Oh, and then there was this man..." She turned back, an abrupt pivot on her heel. "So?"

[always_a_victim]

His fingers stayed in his hair as he stared at her. Not just dangerous, but essentially a blank slate. Great. How did you explain to a child about abstract terms and strange situations?

Whatever the case, he had to make sure she wouldn't attack someone randomly.

"It's a bad place. A prison called Landel's. Anything the humans -- the ones with the needles -- tell you isn't true. Amshel ... Amshel said to be good." Or Amshel would say for Diva to be good, if he were here and had any intelligence whatsoever. "If you stay good, the awful humans won't use those needles on you." He hesitated, then went on. "When the sun sets, though, there are monsters. Things that don't wear these uniforms." He plucked at his shirt to illustrate what he meant by "uniform". "Those things you can hurt."

[roses_bleues]

She sighed lightly, as though she hadn't just heard news that would potentially frighten or disturb normal people. What a liar! The rest was unknown to her, but Amshel had definitely not said to be good. Or if he had, or would, it wouldn't be to a stranger. And Amshel's idea of 'good' always had been flexible...

Then Diva smiled to herself, squeezing her eyes shut briefly and giving her face a cherubic sense of innocent amusement before she opened them again.

She was more shrewd than a typical child, and that made her more of a danger.

"You know, an easier way to stop those awful humans is to just kill them," said Diva. It was hard to tell whether she was being her usual ambivalent self, or mocking. Ne, Kain, what are you going to do when you get hungry?"

[always_a_victim]

"Considering you got stabbed with a needle, I really doubt killing the nurses is possible for either of us right now, and if you hurt the patients then no one will want to help you," he said patiently. "If you want to do it anyways, I can't stop you all the time, but I have no reason not to tell you what I think is best for right now."

Kain ignored the question about what he would do when he got hungry, because he was sure he could feed without attracting attention. He wouldn't hesitate when the time came.

He looked tired as he tilted his head back against the shelf. "Don't play games, Diva. At least not with me. Not here. There's enough to figure out without trying to understand you, too."

[roses_bleues]

She giggled, holding her hand up to her mouth in a ladylike gesture - that, of course, didn't detract from the fact she was royally amused and couldn't contain it. Some of it reminded her very much of Solomon, while other bits were just stupid. Humans helping Diva! Like Saya-neesama!"

Once her giggling had faded to a soft hum, she glanced up at Kain from underneath her eyelashes. "Hmmm... there's nothing to understand. They'll take you when you're least expecting it, hold you down and experiment on you until you scream, torture and drug you, make you fight for your life, then they'll kill you. It's all very simple."

Breaking the serious facade with which she'd spoken, Diva giggled again.

[always_a_victim]

"They make a good shield," Kain explained easily. "Humans would be willing to sacrifice themselves for you if you don't attack them." Mainly because she was a girl and pretty. If Diva played the completely innocent card she'd be looked after.

His eyes shut as he relaxed, smiling humorlessly. "They won't kill. Not on purpose anyways. They wouldn't go through the effort of getting us all here just to let us die. But the rest sounds about right."

[roses_bleues]

Silly, silly, silly.

"Chevaliers shall make better sacrifices." She smiled sweetly at that. "I don't need humans; I'll use them to make something better."

But 'us', now? There was no 'us'. It was her, the humans, and these strange ones that were neither kind of her children. Nothing mattered beyond that, because she was wake and free, and the only instrument that could grievously harm her was not here.

From his turn of speech, however, Diva made a quick assumption and turned back on Kain, attention temporarily pricked again. If he had been here awhile, he had to know something - or he wouldn't run at the mouth as he did, all authoritative. "Hey tell me! Where can I get my dress?"

[always_a_victim]

She just wasn't getting it, and he didn't think she'd ever really get it. He could only try to insert logic into her mindset for so long before he had to give up. If he had any idea what she was thinking he'd have to correct her and say he meant "us" in a far more general term that didn't really include Diva. But he didn't, so he didn't say anything further.

"They probably destroyed the clothing we were wearing when they took us." He didn't think they'd keep useless articles of clothing anyways. "If they kept them then they're on the second floor." They wouldn't keep anything useful on the first floor within easy reach.

[roses_bleues]

If only the vampire knew what the Chiropteran Queen knew. Or what havoc she could wreak once she cast her eye on something. The one, true threat to the human race didn't approve of this 'us' term being used again, nor of the comment about destroying her dress.

She expressed this considerable displeasure with a pout.

"What else do you know? Where have all my Chevaliers gone to?" If she had found him, then he would have been able to sense them in turn. The look in his eye when she had approached was proof enough that he could at least tell that.

[always_a_victim]

"If you can't sense your -- " Chevaliers was French, he remembered then, language lessons having been a long time ago. Knights? " -- Chevaliers, and I haven't sensed them, then they aren't in the building." Of course, with so many people, so much blood from the patients, it was possible he was wrong.

"But I don't know for sure. You could use the bulletin board in the room outside of this one. People use it for getting in touch with people they know." Kain hadn't gotten to see it in any great detail for himself yet. His nurse tended to move fast and seemed to expect him to do the same.

[roses_bleues]

For a moment, she just cocked her head at the comment about the bulletin board.

Perplexed, she said, "I can't," as thought it should be obvious.

[always_a_victim]

Kain looked at her then smiled, truer than the last, though it was still faint. That made things a bit difficult.

"I'll keep an eye on it, then, and maybe tomorrow write something for you. We can go over the basics of how to write, if you want." Both were completely honest offers. He couldn't imagine not being able to read, write, or both.

[roses_bleues]

Now this was true familiarity - a thing that was like a Chevalier completing menial tasks on her behalf. Diva was not a creature who was left to her own devices for any amount of time - she was coddled, pampered, and every detail of her existence carefully orchestrated. Stepping out of that cage any further, by learning to communicate for herself, was not something the head of her Chevaliers desired by any means.

Though, Solomon tried sometimes. That wasn't to say he succeeded.

"Then do it now!" This one giving it attention for her, she understood. The rest of it... "That's boring, you can just do it."

[always_a_victim]

Kain glanced to the door to the sun room, then to the nurses. Somehow he didn't think they'd let him just wander out. It was tempting to try anyways -- he really wanted to look at the board and get a better feel of the patients.

But something stopped him, some inkling that the sun was setting, that night was approaching. "I think the shift is almost over. I won't have enough time. First thing tomorrow, or tonight if I get a chance. Any names in particular?"

[roses_bleues]

This was like a game! They'd hate having their names all lumped together, but they had left her alone in such a place... They would accept it and smile for her.

Still... Diva gave an exaggerated narrowing of the eyes, and said, "I won't know what you'll write, so you could put something completely different." There was nothing upsetting in the thought, because even warning humans about her did anything, but it was the thought that mattered.

She looked to the nurses too, although where Kain saw a potential threat, Diva saw food. And petty annoyances like that Joel and his Zoo.

Hadn't someone said something...

"Tonight a man wants to find me. You can look for a dress while I'm away." Maybe if he was good, she would make the man a Chevalier and have him entertain her while the others were gone... But that reminded her. She looked back at Kain. "You can get the other one to help you too."