[from here]It looked like they were the first ones in the Sun Room this night. There weren't any monsters in plain sight, which was a good sign
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As usual, Sync had taken the lead as they made their way into the Sun Room. He'd long since reached back and took Dahlia's hand, figuring the woman was kind of useless in this situation so it was better to keep her as close to him as possible.
His footsteps were slow and cautious, barely audible against the floor beneath him. The God-General had carefully led the group against one of the walls, eyes constantly scanning the open area before them for any signs of life. It was frustrating having to move this slow when he knew he was on a time limit, but he knew he couldn't risk being reckless no matter how pressed for time he was.
Just like last night, Dahlia shoved her flashlight into the knife bag and pressed said bag against her side to stifle any sudden sounds. Since Syncie had been so nice as to grab her other hand, it looked like she wasn't going to have to yank him back herself. Now if something attacked them again, she was fully expecting him to have more of a reflex than the last time, the jerk.
She was not going to be stuck to the back of his head for another hour. She just wasn't.
So far so good, though. If they could make it to the basement without too much trouble, she may just be nicer with her precious prince when it was her turn to play with him. Or at least give him a nice, fast-acting poison when she didn't need him anymore. Bleach in his orange juice would be such a nasty way to go...
There was something altogether reassuring in the feel of liquid boiling beneath one's skin. Of the feel of blood burning within one's veins, tendons popping in dismay, and synapses firing more quickly to compensate. This was... new and familiar, and created an epiphany of sorts. A reassurance. Emotion from the past twenty four hours had dissipated along with the link, and Albedo relished it. Crouched on the railing overlooking the sun room, the bioweapon tilted his head skyward and sighed. Glorious. It was completely glorious. The loss of weakness, the renewal of strength, the fortifying of goals, and best (worst)--the cascading brilliance of the enchanting and horrible melody of the Song.
It rose and fell along his consciousness, canceling pain and truth and lies (and choice); shifting everything until it was the focal point for the only universal truth allowed. His was a perfect existence, alpha and omega, and he.... His tongue slid out, pressing along against his teeth as his mouth slid into a grin. All else was just. Pieces.
( ... )
It was looking like smooth sailing to the Cafeteria, up until the silence in the room was broken by the sound of laughter. Anise whipped her head around, looking for the source but finding nothing but shadows around them. Finally, she spotted it.
"Above us!" she cried in alarm. Somebody was up on the railing, looking down at them. It didn't take long to figure out it had to be a special counseling patient. Right on time! Maybe the heavens were looking out for poor little Anise after all.
When the stranger began rambling, Anise had to wonder if he somehow knew more than he reasonably could have about them. Sheep led to the slaughter... That described their situation pretty accurately, even if he sounded kind of condescending as he said it.
But when his rant continued into what sounded like total nonsense, Anise's look of awe quickly melted into a more dubious expression. "Um. What's he talking about?" she asked, though she doubted Sync or Dahlia would know either. Anise had a feeling that the guy watching them was dangerous, but she
( ... )
Dias slipped cautiously into the sun room, scanning the ground level for signs of life - none - before directing his gaze upward. A figure, and...his eyes, adjusted to the dark, couldn't make out anything but points of violet light, but that was enough to tell him there was some sort of magic at work. The knowledge put him further on edge; he had learned to be comfortable with some specific mages, but on a whole - and especially as enemies - he distrusted them instinctively.
"Careful," he warned Guy and Claude over his shoulder, moving cautiously forward. That hadn't been sane laughter, and if this opponent were in an unstable and capricious enough mood, possibly he wouldn't stand in their way - he didn't seem to have stopped Sync and his group, at the very least, which was all the more reason for haste.
Claude wasn't exactly sure what they'd wind up doing once they caught up with Sync, but he imagined a fight would be involved. With the way he ran around the institute and caused trouble for other people like he did, he obviously needed to be knocked down a peg or two at the very least. Child or no, Claude was willing to do what it took to make sure Sync didn't hurt anymore people. When it came down to it, someone who broke somebody's arm just for fun and casually made death threats couldn't be allowed to do as he pleased.
He just hoped the two girls who were with him were all right. Whether they were being deceived or were being forced into the basement trips some other way was still up in the air, but that didn't change the fact that being near Sync was dangerous.
The unstable laugh had interrupted him before he could answer Dias' question. Startled, he'd tried to get a better look through the door. Was someone in there? Who would laugh like that? It didn't sound like Sync, and yet they hadn't heard it until the group had
( ... )
Oh, Guy already had an idea of what he'd like to do with Sync, but he wasn't sure he should be too vocal about that just yet. He'd already fought the God-General with all his might a few times in the past, and he wouldn't be against repeating the process here. Granted, he would have to be more careful about it, since he realized how it might look bad considering Sync's age, but the Tempest had long ago lost any innocence, and that was what Guy always kept in mind.
That laughter was definitely not Sync's (unfortunately, Guy knew exactly what that sounded like), but the servant didn't hesitate to follow Dias inside. Unlike Claude, he didn't mind that Dias was taking the lead, since he knew the man was in the best shape out of the three of them.
It looked like Sync and the others (Anise? really?) had already run ahead. Dammit! If they didn't hurry, who knew what Sync would do to those two? And if Anise really was involved, then Guy had even more to worry about. If she got hurt and he wasn't there to stop it, he wasn't going to be
( ... )
And three to three had indeed become six. Were these fierce beasts chasing after the lambs and the wolf with them? It was funny, so funny, and Albedo shifted where he was, sitting on the railing instead and swinging his feet. He bit his lip, grinning delightfully. "Are you chasing the white rabbit?" he mused downward. "Most fall down without thought, never considering how they are to get out again."
Down the rabbit hole and into that place. There was something familiar about that, but it flashed too quickly for anything to settle. Instead the Song rose in waves, draining his replies further. A coalescence had started around him, violet and magenta dancing around him like living flames. One becoming two becoming one, and wasn't there something in that?! The bioweapon's eyes widened, something deliciously like fear lacing his being.
At the same time something shifted towards him along that forgotten and fractured link. A little mouse seeking, searching--pausing before him. Was that fear from daddy's little darling, or something else
( ... )
Well, it didn't seem like there was a fight going on tonight. Was the sun room empty? That was good, less to stand between them and the basement. SubZero wasn't really in the mood to deal with brainwashed patients or the more dangerous creatures that lurked in the building at night.
He motioned for Arlene and HK to come in. Although with no one in here, they might face two in a row in the upcoming rooms. And there was no one to distract any opposition they might run into.
Beatrix smoothly followed SubZero in, already knowing there was something inside. She was quite glad he'd just headed in, the Bride not wanting to waste any time either on unnecessary conversation. Immediately upon entrance, she started looking around for the source of that electrical flare she'd seen through the seams of the Sun Room doors earlier.
Nothing yet. She gave SubZero a universal hand signal to alert SubZero (and HK-47 if the droid hadn't noticed the flare earlier) of the imminent danger. Remembering last night's occupant, Beatrix scanned the ceiling and balcony area.
HK followed, for once apparently not on meat shield duty. Someone else who had been made of meat for their entire existence would obviously be much better at the job than he was.
With the windows in the ceiling it was brighter in here, but he was still glad that he'd retained his infrared capabilities. If there were any heat signatures in this place, he would find them. As long as they weren't hiding from him in some devious way that he had yet to uncover.
The passing party followed their rabbit, their wolf and lambs, and Albedo had no eyes to see. Nigredo responded in an obvious way, and Albedo grinned in amusement. {But that would ruin the fun.} Much like how he was supposed to ruin others' this night. He hadn't been doing a very good job. Perhaps he would be punished. The bioweapon giggled softly. Oh, let them try. It'd be marvelousHis eyes darted downwards at the creaking open of the door once more, head tilted to watch as another party of three came in. Oh, how dark and dreary this group seemed! Perhaps he should do his task, and liven up their night. There were many games to play, many and much, and they had all the time that entropy tried to steal. Their time would lax first, these poor creatures tied to the mortal coil, but Albedo could attempt to make their stay a little more... thrilling... while they resided where life was offered to them
( ... )
Ophelia ducked beside the outer doorframe, listening for the faint footfalls of her prey across the carpeted floor within. They didn't get far, however. The party stopped when sadistic-sounding laughter pealed across the room. Mm, perhaps someone is out to make my hunt even easier tonight, thought the warrior with a predatory grin.
She peeked through the crack between door and doorframe, able to make out a ball of violet light and what looked to be the shape of a hovering child behind it. Whatever poor, brainwashed soul this was, Ophelia liked his style. For the moment, she stayed hidden, waiting to see how her quarry would respond to the attack.
Hearing and watching what she could of the team getting knocked around by the floating boy only made Ophelia more excited to inflict further damage. Luckily for her, the chance to do just that came soon enough. The boy wandered away to a seemingly more important confrontation, leaving her and her prey an opening to move into the next area.
The Number Four grinned her serpentine grin and entered the Sun Room after hearing the group exit. She took the minimal effort necessary to keep herself from attracting unrelated prying eyes, preparing to throw off the cloak of stealth the first moment she could get.
Howl slipped into the room, and made an effort to stay close to the wall. As long as he remained anchored to that, he could cling to some false sense of security. It was growing increasingly difficult to silence the voice inside of him that was pointing out how horribly dangerous this was. And for what? It would be so much easier to sit back in his room and wait for someone else to figure out how to escape. Let them risk their necks.
Thankfully, the Witch and what she might do to his assorted crew of loved ones was still more frightening than what the Institute held. The idea of Sophie, Michael and Megan trying to defend themselves was laughable. Calcifer might have been able to manage something. But Calcifer might also be dead, Howl told himself severely. His chest ached with its emptiness. So Howl pushed forward, against his better judgment. His hair was falling into his eyes, and he was almost too worried to care. (Almost
( ... )
Zoro hmmed his understanding and stayed close to the shadows somewhere just behind Howl. He was far calmer than his companion, his own breathing relaxed though his body was tense. Being sneaky may never have been a Straw Hat specialty (even Robin sometimes lost her guile to Luffy's over-loud presence) but Zoro could be subtle when he had to. As they crept along, he kept his eyes trained on the surrounding darkness, alert to the presence of the figure he'd seen from outside the door. Maybe whoever it was would just let them through peacefully since they had no real intention to fight; optimistic as it sounded, there was a slim chance that it would happen. Maybe. Not that Zoro would back down when it came to blows, but he didn't think his guide was particularly keen about it happening
( ... )
The entity hovered closer to the pair, violet eyes shaded for now. There was an undercurrent, an annoyance. Something settling and shifting (fading and rising), and these, these, were not what he had sought. Albedo blinked once, twice, something shaking behind his eyes. Again, and here, a song rose and fell, gracing madness, dancing melodic. He begged to differ in its theme, but nonetheless, he found iridescence once more, violet rising to a shine around him.
"You have touched grace," he murmured, almost soft. The deeds of the past, past moments, past year was left forgotten, and he wondered at them even as his right hand raised, lightning and energy slipped over it like a shroud. "And when you see the silent candle burning? What has came over you?" The softness slid, mirrored in time, a whisper, a wanting, and then it had passed like it had never been. His hand raised higher, and again his face split with a grin, mind dancing to music unheard. Consuming. Devouring. The boy looked at the first, and made to move.
Howl's blood ran cold when the boy floated down to them, like some kind of eerie specter. He left as mysteriously as he had appeared, and although Howl remained uninjured, the icy fear remained. Fear as well as confusion, since the things the child said had made no sense whatsoever.
Regardless, Howl knew it was not the responsibility, nor the nature of spirits (if that's indeed what they just saw) to be clear and reasonable. He was no sooner ready to question the child's words than he was to waste time wondering why he had not been attacked.
"Let's not look a gift horse in the mouth," Howl urged, finally breaking free of his own nerves. He gestured stiffly to Zoro and made a beeline for the door.
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His footsteps were slow and cautious, barely audible against the floor beneath him. The God-General had carefully led the group against one of the walls, eyes constantly scanning the open area before them for any signs of life. It was frustrating having to move this slow when he knew he was on a time limit, but he knew he couldn't risk being reckless no matter how pressed for time he was.
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She was not going to be stuck to the back of his head for another hour. She just wasn't.
So far so good, though. If they could make it to the basement without too much trouble, she may just be nicer with her precious prince when it was her turn to play with him. Or at least give him a nice, fast-acting poison when she didn't need him anymore. Bleach in his orange juice would be such a nasty way to go...
Reply
It rose and fell along his consciousness, canceling pain and truth and lies (and choice); shifting everything until it was the focal point for the only universal truth allowed. His was a perfect existence, alpha and omega, and he.... His tongue slid out, pressing along against his teeth as his mouth slid into a grin. All else was just. Pieces. ( ... )
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"Above us!" she cried in alarm. Somebody was up on the railing, looking down at them. It didn't take long to figure out it had to be a special counseling patient. Right on time! Maybe the heavens were looking out for poor little Anise after all.
When the stranger began rambling, Anise had to wonder if he somehow knew more than he reasonably could have about them. Sheep led to the slaughter... That described their situation pretty accurately, even if he sounded kind of condescending as he said it.
But when his rant continued into what sounded like total nonsense, Anise's look of awe quickly melted into a more dubious expression. "Um. What's he talking about?" she asked, though she doubted Sync or Dahlia would know either. Anise had a feeling that the guy watching them was dangerous, but she ( ... )
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Dias slipped cautiously into the sun room, scanning the ground level for signs of life - none - before directing his gaze upward. A figure, and...his eyes, adjusted to the dark, couldn't make out anything but points of violet light, but that was enough to tell him there was some sort of magic at work. The knowledge put him further on edge; he had learned to be comfortable with some specific mages, but on a whole - and especially as enemies - he distrusted them instinctively.
"Careful," he warned Guy and Claude over his shoulder, moving cautiously forward. That hadn't been sane laughter, and if this opponent were in an unstable and capricious enough mood, possibly he wouldn't stand in their way - he didn't seem to have stopped Sync and his group, at the very least, which was all the more reason for haste.
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He just hoped the two girls who were with him were all right. Whether they were being deceived or were being forced into the basement trips some other way was still up in the air, but that didn't change the fact that being near Sync was dangerous.
The unstable laugh had interrupted him before he could answer Dias' question. Startled, he'd tried to get a better look through the door. Was someone in there? Who would laugh like that? It didn't sound like Sync, and yet they hadn't heard it until the group had ( ... )
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That laughter was definitely not Sync's (unfortunately, Guy knew exactly what that sounded like), but the servant didn't hesitate to follow Dias inside. Unlike Claude, he didn't mind that Dias was taking the lead, since he knew the man was in the best shape out of the three of them.
It looked like Sync and the others (Anise? really?) had already run ahead. Dammit! If they didn't hurry, who knew what Sync would do to those two? And if Anise really was involved, then Guy had even more to worry about. If she got hurt and he wasn't there to stop it, he wasn't going to be ( ... )
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Down the rabbit hole and into that place. There was something familiar about that, but it flashed too quickly for anything to settle. Instead the Song rose in waves, draining his replies further. A coalescence had started around him, violet and magenta dancing around him like living flames. One becoming two becoming one, and wasn't there something in that?! The bioweapon's eyes widened, something deliciously like fear lacing his being.
At the same time something shifted towards him along that forgotten and fractured link. A little mouse seeking, searching--pausing before him. Was that fear from daddy's little darling, or something else ( ... )
Reply
Well, it didn't seem like there was a fight going on tonight. Was the sun room empty? That was good, less to stand between them and the basement. SubZero wasn't really in the mood to deal with brainwashed patients or the more dangerous creatures that lurked in the building at night.
He motioned for Arlene and HK to come in. Although with no one in here, they might face two in a row in the upcoming rooms. And there was no one to distract any opposition they might run into.
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Nothing yet. She gave SubZero a universal hand signal to alert SubZero (and HK-47 if the droid hadn't noticed the flare earlier) of the imminent danger. Remembering last night's occupant, Beatrix scanned the ceiling and balcony area.
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With the windows in the ceiling it was brighter in here, but he was still glad that he'd retained his infrared capabilities. If there were any heat signatures in this place, he would find them. As long as they weren't hiding from him in some devious way that he had yet to uncover.
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Ophelia ducked beside the outer doorframe, listening for the faint footfalls of her prey across the carpeted floor within. They didn't get far, however. The party stopped when sadistic-sounding laughter pealed across the room. Mm, perhaps someone is out to make my hunt even easier tonight, thought the warrior with a predatory grin.
She peeked through the crack between door and doorframe, able to make out a ball of violet light and what looked to be the shape of a hovering child behind it. Whatever poor, brainwashed soul this was, Ophelia liked his style. For the moment, she stayed hidden, waiting to see how her quarry would respond to the attack.
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The Number Four grinned her serpentine grin and entered the Sun Room after hearing the group exit. She took the minimal effort necessary to keep herself from attracting unrelated prying eyes, preparing to throw off the cloak of stealth the first moment she could get.
[To here]
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Howl slipped into the room, and made an effort to stay close to the wall. As long as he remained anchored to that, he could cling to some false sense of security. It was growing increasingly difficult to silence the voice inside of him that was pointing out how horribly dangerous this was. And for what? It would be so much easier to sit back in his room and wait for someone else to figure out how to escape. Let them risk their necks.
Thankfully, the Witch and what she might do to his assorted crew of loved ones was still more frightening than what the Institute held. The idea of Sophie, Michael and Megan trying to defend themselves was laughable. Calcifer might have been able to manage something. But Calcifer might also be dead, Howl told himself severely. His chest ached with its emptiness. So Howl pushed forward, against his better judgment. His hair was falling into his eyes, and he was almost too worried to care. (Almost ( ... )
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The entity hovered closer to the pair, violet eyes shaded for now. There was an undercurrent, an annoyance. Something settling and shifting (fading and rising), and these, these, were not what he had sought. Albedo blinked once, twice, something shaking behind his eyes. Again, and here, a song rose and fell, gracing madness, dancing melodic. He begged to differ in its theme, but nonetheless, he found iridescence once more, violet rising to a shine around him.
"You have touched grace," he murmured, almost soft. The deeds of the past, past moments, past year was left forgotten, and he wondered at them even as his right hand raised, lightning and energy slipped over it like a shroud. "And when you see the silent candle burning? What has came over you?" The softness slid, mirrored in time, a whisper, a wanting, and then it had passed like it had never been. His hand raised higher, and again his face split with a grin, mind dancing to music unheard. Consuming. Devouring. The boy looked at the first, and made to move.
A ( ... )
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Regardless, Howl knew it was not the responsibility, nor the nature of spirits (if that's indeed what they just saw) to be clear and reasonable. He was no sooner ready to question the child's words than he was to waste time wondering why he had not been attacked.
"Let's not look a gift horse in the mouth," Howl urged, finally breaking free of his own nerves. He gestured stiffly to Zoro and made a beeline for the door.
[To here.]
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