Day 43: Chapel

[constellates]

And just like that, the disorienting feeling of blacking out just to wake up in an unfamiliar bed came again. Alkaid had wondered if it would - everything about last night had been different, all the way from the zombies to the eerie emptiness of the Institute to the strange broadcast at the end of the night. Had the Head Doctor been shot? Damn,

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[number1smiley]

Teresa slowly opened her eyes to find herself just as she had the last time she'd opened her eyes - laying on a bed in that facility. The fact that it was lit was the only real difference. She wasn't used to laying down at all as hybrids only needed a few hours of rest against their sword and they were perfectly refreshed

[bitpartgod]

Someone had decided to take pity on Kibitoshin, because finally the night was over! While this had the unfortunate downside of stopping him from catching the other two's names it was a small price to pay for being taken away from those rotting, unstoppable creatures, with their tearing hands and their gaping, gashed mouths and their bloated faces, and

[number1smiley]

Silver eyes flickered over to look at the man that had stopped by her, his voice drawing her from her thoughts and observations of the room.

"I have no objection," she replied.

If the man was expecting further conversation from her, he would have to wait as she picked up on the presence of another hybrid nearby. It wasn't a youki signature she recognized, though there was something about it of great interest to the Number One. Leaning back against the wall, Teresa's eyes flickered to the blonde woman with the short, somewhat shaggy hair and a matching set of silver eyes walk into the room. That was all the visual she needed, so Teresa no longer looked in the other hybrid's direction.

A faint smile touched her lips. I'll have to keep an eye on her.

[bitpartgod]

"Thank... you?" Kibitoshin trailed off as the her gaze flitted distractedly across the room and towards another, younger woman who had just arrived. Not only that, but she was smiling too- not necessarily at the other woman, but something about her presence had clearly pleased her in some way. But if they knew each other, why didn't she just go over and introduce herself?

Kibitoshin! You're staring! Cheeks colouring slightly he forced himself to find something else to watch. When he'd decided to find something else to occupy him, that hadn't meant sticking his nose into other people's business. Especially not when he still had the puzzle of the chapel to solve

[lady_general]

Celes had woken up in fight mode, the knife in her hands still clenched tightly. She noted with some vague amusement that she'd been well-cleaned before waking and the bite on her arm had been bandaged neatly. Celes only wished she had a moment to check on it. Her arm ached when she pushed the covers off and hid the knife in her closet next to her clothing. The new voice on the intercom was strange and disturbing.

Before she deigned to eat, her first stop was the chapel. Celes paid little mind to the others, and sat down at a pew to start her prayers. It wasn't, she reminded herself, that she'd been terribly religious before, and she wasn't now, either, it was only that it was familiar, and a familiarity that she approved of.

O Triad, do I now put before thee...

[razing_phoenix]

It wasn't often these days that Guy woke up gasping. He was too used to the institute for it to faze him much anymore, but last night had been hardly normal. Just having to deal with an unending hoard of zombies would have been bad enough, but then Claude had been bitten -- one bad thing had led to another after that. Guy hadn't realized that the creatures carried infection until he'd seen the rot on Claude's shoulder, and he hadn't realized the true danger until they'd ended up in another scuffle and he'd been bitten by his own friend

[lady_general]

Celes was into her third and final round of prayers and opened her eyes when she felt another presence beside her. She was irritated over Luxord's flagrant behavior - honestly, would it kill him to have some composure if he were courting her? But she was about as interested in that him right now as she was a pile of refuse. Stupid men. No doubt she'd hear the "I told you"s from miles away.

"Good morning, Guy," she greeted him. "I'm pleased to see you made it through the evening." Her tone was sincere; especially in light of their last meeting and the night before. While Celes had been bitten, it had only served as a hindrance, thank all the goddesses for their mercy. "I promise that we shan't be interrupted as we were yesterday." Not if he values his happiness and use of his lower half, she added mentally.

[razing_phoenix]

Guy had been so distracted by what had happened to him and the strange intercom announcement this morning that he hadn't even recalled the awkward situation Celes had put him in yesterday. It hadn't exactly been her fault, of course -- rather, it was that blond man who had come over to talk to her. Either way, it was water under the bridge now and he gave a quick shake of his head so that she knew as much. "I wasn't even thinking of that," he admitted

[himetsuru]

It was unbelievable that after everything that happened the previous night, all the cuts and bites she'd taken, that Falis did not require a wheeled chair or even crutches. Oh, she was in pain, looking like she'd gotten into a fight with a blade golem, but she could still walk on her own. The worst part about it all was the hangover she had from forcing herself to get drunk at the end of the night once Hokuto had gotten her out of the park. She'd manage, but she was not looking forward to the day.

If she'd been aware of what religion really was, Falis would have found the nurse's choice to bring her to the chapel oddly appropriate, as if the woman had known she'd killed an innocent man in the midst of her rampage and wanted her to repent. Falis was upset that she's ended his life when she'd tried so hard to save him, but she had killed enough people over the course of her life since it had made its presence known to not agonize over it

[sixth_attack]

Buried deep within a disarray of twisted bed sheets, the slumbering Replica restlessly tossed and turned whilst murmuring out a jumble of words and names. Some of his bemoaned words included Armand, guard and repair...

Suddenly Sechs' pained sleep was sharply interrupted by the harsh, robotic voice that screeched over the speakers. Giving off a startled yelp, Sechs sprung awake, expecting to see another deranged zombie stumbling towards him with its jaws unhinged for a bite. Yet instead Sechs found himself back in the same plain room he had woken up in before. Once realizing that he was back in the institute and away from the zombies and... Armand... the Replica gave out a frustrated growl as he flopped back against his pillow. Thinking over what had occurred the day before, Sechs felt overcome by a nauseating mixture of pain and bewilderment. "Shit! What a day..." Sechs groaned. The Doyleton trip and all that occurred there was like an emotional roller coaster from hell! Dammit! He really hated this

[himetsuru]

Falis felt the man's presence, even through her hangover, before he spoke. She'd been hoping whoever had chosen to sit behind her would just be quiet so she could nurse her headache, but it seemed someone from the end of the group had found her. She was well aware that her description had been identified on the board, but had hoped no one would come seek her out. Apparently, the one man hadn't described what actually had happened. Not that she wanted anyone to really know. It seemed she wasn't going to be given a choice in the matter. At least, the man was keeping his voice down.

"Yes," Falis replied. She wasn't going to hide from what she'd done. "Now sit down."

[sixth_attack]

Sechs was far too occupied by his silent rage to feel taken aback by the woman's swift and unobstructed confession. Instead, he anger grew focused like a controlled surge of raw power.

"No! Don't tell me what to do!" Sechs snapped, his breathing deepening with increasing aggravation as he adamantly kept his aggressive stance. "So you're willing to tell me that you did kill him..." Sechs growled with a tone that resembled the growing thunder of an incoming storm.

Then the Replica whipped out his left hand, aiming to firmly clasp the woman's shoulder. "So how about explaining why you did it?!" He snarled while his boiling rage swiftly reached the tipping point, his voice now threatening to explode into deafening volumes...

"The poor bastard could barely defend himself!" Sechs raged on with barely restrained force, "was it because you're one of those types who enjoy beating on weaker opponents or something?! Tell me!"

[high_prosecutor]

Edgeworth woke with a start, half-expecting to find that he'd been knocked out and had the undead swarming over him. What he didn't expect at all was a recording, and a strange one at that. What was that? Consoles? Welcome bags? It honestly sounded like a facility tour.

He made some mental notes on that, then headed upstairs. It had become something of a custom to go up to the chapel on Sunday mornings, since the Head Doctor's first speech. He had stopped thinking that the man's appearance was likely, but regardless, it was better to be there and able to report on it than not.

On the way up, he remembered that he was supposed to be meeting Javert there. Well, that just made the meeting easier. He settled into one of the pews near the back, and waited.

[closed to Javert.]

[unmocked_lawr]

Javert awoke to a veritable cacophony of aches and pains, all of them, he discovered as he moved his arms and legs experimentally, having been tended to sometime in the night. He wasn't entirely sure he was comfortable with that. Nor was he entirely comfortable with the alien voice coming from the intercom. He might be a century and a half behind the times, but even he could tell that something was wrong with the woman's voice

[high_prosecutor]

"Morning, M. Javert," Edgeworth replied, with a nod. "I suppose I fared as well as anyone could hope to, given the chaos of last night. Frankly, I'm just glad to have all my arms and legs still attached," he added, giving a wry grin. "How did you fare? Just from the bulletin board, I take it there were a number of casualties. I sincerely hope that the number doesn't include any friends."

He sat back just a bit, pulling out his notebook and flipping to a clean page. "I would ask your opinion of the intercom announcement, but I suspect it's the same as mine: it shouldn't have been a voice like that, and it should have been followed by a clarification of some sort if it was unintentionally played."

That could wait, though. "But before I digress further, what was it you wanted to discuss with me?"

[unmocked_lawr]

A slight upward twitch of Javert's mouth. "Relatively well, all things considered." He let Edgeworth's comment about friends among the casualty list slide. The Saint-Just boy had been his erstwhile ally for a time, but he'd been far too kind for this place and far too idealistic for France. It was with a feeling of dull resignation that Javert realized that he had been half-expecting something to happen to him

[tostepforward]

Ever since she had first found herself in this place Ayumu had continually encountered stranger and stranger situations. Last night, however, had gone far beyond anything she'd ever seen, or even imagined, and apparently this bizarre new twist hadn't ended even with the morning light.

At least she was back in the building, and no longer surrounded by hordes of foul-smelling walking corpses. She'd never thought she would find that a relief, but the relative safety was nice, even if the events of the night previous had only made her even more determined to return home as soon as possible. Not that Kyoto would be safe, not by any stretch of the imagination, but at least there the dangers were familiar ones that she knew how to deal with. There she had things she needed to accomplish, which couldn't be done if she fell in battle here against some bizarre nightmare creature made flesh

[host_club_honey]

Last night was a nightmare and Honey was just glad to have Usa-chan by his side when he woke up. The mop handle from last night was still in his hands and he placed it under his mattress, listening to the strange broadcast for this morning.

He didn't have much appetite when the nurse led him out of his room, so he followed her up to the chapel; it was something new, and it was nice to get to see the second floor a little during the daytime. At least the nurse had let him check the bulletin. While he didn't see anything from the twins, Tamaki and Takashi were alright, and Ed too. Maybe they'd gotten lucky.

Honey looked for a familiar face and was glad to see that Anise and Sen were alright. He hesitated a moment before deciding to go see the second girl.

"Sen-nee?" he asked, hopping up onto the bench and sitting beside her.

[tostepforward]

More people were entering the room as she sat there, but clearly the chapel wasn't nearly as popular as the Sun Room downstairs. That was all right with Ayumu for the moment - normally she would have been busily working, watching and observing everything she could of the goings-on and interactions, especially since her main objective was downstairs at the moment (though talking to Yuffie, of all people) but after last night she'd needed a moment to think

[host_club_honey]

Honey smiled, even if it wasn't his brightest or best. He was glad to see his friend was alright. After something like a zombie invasion, it was easy to believe that a lot of the patients might not have survived. That something terrible might've happened to them. Seeing that his friends were doing fine was a great relief.

"I'm glad you're okay too Sen-nee," Honey said sincerely. He patted her hand with his small, childish one. "You must've been really brave. Even I was scared!"