the_campus | Dead girl in da house

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Dead girl in da house

[Waking up in a random nurse's office had been just plain confusing - especially since she didn't remember getting knocked out in the first place. The nurse hadn't really been able to clear things up any.

[All Dinah knew for sure was that she definitely wasn't in the Mausoleum anymore. This felt more like... not Somarium or Aliunde. Tredecim Asylum, she decided. True, this place was much cleaner and better lit and there wasn't a single zombie nurse in sight.... but it had the same vaguely unfriendly atmosphere.

[.... Which meant, naturally, that she just had to go out and get the lay of the land. So, after pilfering a pen and legal pad from the nurse's desk and arming herself with a broom handle from the nearest janitor's closet, she set out, mapping the place out as best she could. Nurse's Office, here. Cafeteria, there. And she would lay good money there were dorms somewhere nearby too.] I'll have to check those out later...

[Because if this place was anything like Tredecim, Somarium, and Aliunde... escape will probably be a long, long time coming.]

I guess some things never change.

[She pauses just long enough to aim a stinkeye at the ceiling -and, hopefully, any hidden cameras their captor might have hidden there- the stinkeye, before continuing on, utterly absorbed in her task.]

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Are you lost?

[Navit asked, having been walking past nearby when he saw her. He wondered if she was new or where she had been before, with such elaborate clothing she had upon herself.]

[The sound of another person's voice jerks her right out of her musings, and she turns, leveling the broom handle at him -- and there's something very polished about the movement, like it's an old, deeply ingrained habit.

[Then, with one quick glance, she takes in his body language, the way he's dressed... and lowers the broom handle with a sheepish grin.]

Sorry about that - old habits. [And then, as she registers what he actually said...] Um, I guess I am. Just a little. [She gestures vaguely with the hand holding the legal pad.] These hallways all look the same, you know?

[The brunette looked shocked by the broom stance, but was thankful when she backed down. He really didn't want to get attacked.]

Are you usually attacked on sight?

[Seemed like a miserable way to live, though he had been through similar in his own life.]

Yes, they do. [Hunter agreed, though he had traversed the building itself more than enough times to have it down by now. He hadn't ventured much beyond it yet.]

Were you heading somewhere in particular?

Not on sight, no -- but the last time I got dragged off somewhere like this, it got invaded by mutant monsters. So [she adjusts her grip on the broom handle, so she's now holding it like a staff] -- "be prepared," you know?

[She's only ever heard the first couple lines of that particular Tom Lehrer song, but it seems like sound advice. And then, at his next question, she gets that sheepish look again.]

Not really; I was just trying to get the lay of the land. [And she holds out her legal pad for his viewing pleasure; it's got the beginnings of a map drawn in black pen, starting at the nurse's office, and including what "landmarks" she could find.]

[Hunter looked shocked. Last time? Had something like this happened to her before?] Can you tell me more about this other place you were previously?

[He took the pad, looking it over. It was mostly accurate from what he could tell.] There's a fountain in the courtyard here. [Navit held it back out to her.]

Oh! Thanks. [She adds a little doodle where he indicated -she can go back and do a cleaner second-draft later- before answering that question.]

Last time... I was pulled to a place called Aliunde, along with a bunch of other people from all different places. [And times, but she doesn't want to make his brain explode.] We were told that our home world had been destroyed and that were meant to start new lives there; they gave us apartments to stay in and a little money to get by until we found work and mostly left us to it.

The woman in charge was the Head Doctor; she was deposed a couple of times, by people from our group, but the first time, the power grid went offline and we got invaded by mutant monsters, and the second time, a totally different type of monster got let loose in the city.

[He nodded, listening carefully to her previous experience.]

Have you talked to any of the people in charge here?

[Navit, personally, hadn't found any.]

[She shakes her head.] Haven't been able to find them. I keep hearing about an unidentified woman who likes to make announcements over the intercom, but apparently she doesn't like answering nearly as much.

I see. Have you tried checking the main office of this building for her? [If there even was one.]

That's the weirdest part -- I haven't been able to find one. [Her thought is that it might be hidden by magic, like the kind that apparently pulled them here, but she's no Edaniel. She can't detect it if it's there, let alone counter it.]

Neither have I. [He added, shaking his head.] Except for the lack of communication, it sounds like this place is less chaotic than your last one.

[Although, lack of communication with the people behind the scenes was incredibly scary itself. Navit had been there, done that, and he'd rather not do it again.]

Yeah, it certainly seems that way. [She frowns.] Not that I trust it to stay like that for very long.

[Nothing good ever came of trusting the Powers That Be in these places. Nothing.]

Yes. You have a point. [He pushed some hair behind his ear.] Where were you trying to go before? I may be able to point you in the right direction.

What's not changing now?

[Karasu was just walking past when she found this woman... glaring at the ceiling, apparently.]

[She turns in a hurry at the sound of another person's voice, her grip on the broom handle tightening briefly, before she apparently decides Karasu isn't a threat.]

Hm? Oh, it's just... I've been dragged off to places like this three separate times, and it always goes the same way: kidnapper turns out to be some faceless, nameless entity that won't tell us what it wants or why it dragged us here. The details change, but that part never does.

[And she sounds... surprisingly casual about all this. If slightly annoyed.]

[To be fair, besides the white hair, Karasu looks pretty average for a girl. Scrawny, even.]

You -- what?! THREE times?!

[Wow that... that's actually uh. Pretty right. She looks shocked, not sure what else to say.]

[Well, the white hair's a bit odd, admittedly, but Dinah's seen stranger things.]

Yup. [She starts ticking them off on her fingers.] First was Tredecim Asylum, which was mostly a front for the 'doctors' there to run some sort of social experiment, never did learn all the details. Next was Somarium, which supposedly was a whole world that existed only in our collective dreams. Most recently it was Aliunde, a terraformed city on an alien planet.

[And no, she isn't even slightly joking.]

I... wow. Uh. I guess we're lucky we just got stuck in a mostly abandoned Campus on an island. At least everything here restocks and not many people bother us.

[Seriously, what the hell...]

Well, the last two weren't so bad, actually -- probably no worse than this place. [She makes a bit of a face all the same.] I'd rather not be dragged away from home at all, but... [shrug] it could be worse.

Edited 2013-09-03 05:25 (UTC)

I... guess it really could. I hadn't really thought about that.

[She grins, both at the statement and the look of surprise.]

That right there says a lot about this place. I mean, I already figured it was better just because there isn't a zombie nurse or mutant monster in sight, but still.

Nope, just crushing boredom if you can't figure out things to do on your own or make friends.

[And at that point she gives a little bit of a wince.] Well, at least I can keep myself plenty busy.

[Friends, though... that might be a little more difficult. Even someplace like this, where there are people running around who make her look completely normal by comparison, she still has a hard time reaching out to people after half a lifetime as 'that creepy girl' who no one wanted to talk to or even go near.

[Well. Except for Vincent. And Millie. And Edrear and Edaniel, Eike, Hisoka, Rise, Meier, Vanille... funny, how she didn't have more than three friends until she started getting kidnapped to alternate dimensions.]

And there's always playing games. There's a lot of them around here and you can probably find someone bored enough to play with.

Hell, if you can find me, I probably would.

Games? [She blinks.] You mean they have a game room here? Or something like one? [Beat.] Huh. I guess we can safely say the goal here isn't to drive us all insane from boredom, at least.

[And then, as she processes what else the other girl just said... she can't help quick, almost shy little grin that flits across her face.] Oh... thanks, I'd like that. My name's Dinah.

[She holds her hand out for a shake.]

[ooc: psst - it's in Di's profile, but I thought I'd mention it here too: Dinah is a guardian spirit attached to a place called the Sunken Mausoleum. Dunno if Karasu would pick up on the spirit part, but I figured I'd give you a heads-up about it just in case.]

I don't know about a full game room, but there are a lot of things you can find around here.

Ah! I'm Karasu. Nice to meet you, Dinah-san. [She shakes the hand, noting the odd feeling she gets from it. ...Honestly, now that she thinks about it, she's been getting an odd feeling in general about this girl. Weird..]

((She would have, a lil' bit! Thanks for the heads up. c:))

Oh. Well, it sounds like I'll be in good shape either way. It's nice to meet you too, Karasu.

[She's not volunteering any information, at least not yet. Explaining what she is now requires her to explain at least a little about the Mausoleum, and part of the job description involves keeping its secrets.]

[And Karasu is a bit too uncomfortable to ask. She just nods a little, laughing a bit and fidgeting. Uh... now what?]

Well, is there anything else you really need to know?

[She thinks it over for just a minute, tapping her lip with her pen.]

Nothing urgent, I don't think... oh! Except maybe which way the dorms are. [She grins a little, sheepishly.]

[Yes, Di, that would be helpful to know. Not that she really needs sleep anymore, but she will need a place to store her notepad, broom handle, and whatever else she manages to collect.]

[Nero was busy just down the hall, smashing another one of the intercoms when the girl came by. Noticing the broom, he let out a small laugh.]

What's that for?

[She did notice the guy, so she doesn't startle this time.]

What, this? [She holds it up a little way -- enough to show that it's not actually the whole broom, just the handle. Though whether she broke it herself or found it like that is an open question.]

I've been dragged into places like this a couple of times before. First to someplace with were zombies milling around who occasionally got a craving for human flesh, then to a city that got overrun by monsters at least once a month. So when I woke up here, I figured [she shrugs] better safe than sorry.

[And she appears to be entirely serious, about the zombies and the monster invasions.]

[Considering Nero comes from a world where he has to slaughter demons to keep his small home city safe...he's not going to doubt her. In fact, he doesn't even blink at the suggestion. No, actually...something else bothers him much more.]

...Wait, you've been to other places like this?

[He waves dismissively at the broom as an afterthought. It's probably worth nothing the distorted, glowing, and demonic appearance of his right arm.] Heh, but you're in luck, lady. No monsters or zombies here. Well, at least no hostile ones.

Uh-huh. Unfortunately. [Said in an almost deadpan tone. Sort of makes you wonder, doesn't it, what sort of place she comes from, that she can be so incredibly blase about all this.

[She does take note of the arm, more curious than really wary. After all, she's seen far stranger and more frightening things in the Mausoleum, even before she'd ever heard of Tredecim or Somarium or Aliunde.]

Not hostile, huh? Well that's a nice change.

[He scowls at that (not at her, but the idea itself), wondering exactly that--where did she come from?]

To be fair...even if there were, I'd take care of 'em.

[He reaches back, revving the handle of his sword. Yes, it does make the sound of a motorcycle engine being revved.]

I'm a demon hunter, but I'm sure I could handle a few zombies.

[When you're employed by a giant anthropomorphic spider-lady and one of your co-workers is a violently lime green cat monster, you learn to define 'weird' a lot differently.]

Sounds like you're better equipped than me. I'm just an-[she pauses to search for the right word for what she does -or did- for the Mausoleum. And then he does that thing with his sword and she completely forgets what she was going to say in favor of...]

How does it do that? [As she angles her head to try and get a better look at the sword. Yes, that's the part that surprises her. Priorities, man.]

Edited 2013-09-05 16:00 (UTC)

[No no, he understands. His sword is way more interesting than this place anyway. Honestly, Nero was hoping to ask more about the other places she's been, but he'll bring that back up in a minute.]

It's got an engine in it, how else? Heh. Not a bike engine though. This thing just shoots out flaming liquid.

[WHICH IS WAY COOLER IN JUST ABOUT EVERY WAY. Why would he need a bike engine in his sword anyway.

A walking fire hazard is way more practical.]

[And how would you even get a bike engine to fit in the first place? Unless his world has completely different laws of physics - although, now that she thinks about it, that's entirely possible.

[Weapons are and always will be Edrear's niche, but even she can admit] That is so cool.

[Although, that may have more to do with the whole 'flaming' part. And the fact that her immediate first thought was 'lightsaber made of FIRE.']

[Some things are better left unanswered.]

...You think it's cool? [He smirks. Now he thinks you're cool.] Well, it is the best weapon a swordsman could ask for. That liquid heats up the blade, meaning with this baby, [He pulls his sword offh is back, suddenly embedding the tip into the ground between them as he revs it again. The blade glows red hot in response.] I can cut through just about anything!

[And the question of whether she thinks it's cool doesn't get a verbal answer -- but by the way she immediately crouches down to examine it and the cut it made in the floor with that wowed expression on her face... the answer is yes.

[She leans in for a close look - no fear of getting cut or burned, since she learned the hard way that only weapons forged by the Mausoleum itself can hurt Tower Guards, and the words slip out before she's really thought about it.]

Edrear would be so jealous. [And then, to give some context to that statement, she adds] Sorry - that's a friend of mine back home. He really loves his swords. [And, well, pretty much every weapon under the sun - but swords seem to be his favorite.]

[He doesn't mind the interest. In fact, it's a nice change from the interest everybody always seems to have in his arm. Nero was sick of explaining (or not, in most cases) that to people.]

Be careful, it's hot, you know. [She may not be able to be hurt by the blade, but Nero doesn't know that. He shifts the blade away, keeping it at what he see as a safe distance from her.]

Heh...is that so? Well, there's a lot to love. It'd be nice if there were more swordsmen around here. I've got nothing to do.

[She very nearly tells him not to worry, it couldn't hurt her anyway -- but stops. She's not sure she wants to tell more about the Mausoleum than she has to, to anyone -- especially people she's just met.

[Not that she's worried about not being believed, necessarily; she's seen far stranger things in the various pocket universes she's been thrown into. She's more concerned about somebody finding the Mausoleum and pulling a Hetka on them again. And Dinah will die twice over before she lets anyone else try and tear apart her guild and her town.]

[She offers an appropriately contrite/sheepish expression and leans back some.] Right, right. Sorry.

[And then she's back to examining the cut it made without getting too close or poking at it, and it takes her a moment to process the words and reply.] I'll be sure to let you know if he turns up.

[He arches a brow at that last bit. Nero highly doubted she'd end up seeing her friend, but...whatever helps you cope with this place, really. It's not as if he doesn't have his own hopeless hopes while being trapped here.]

So...have you found a room yet? [WAIT THAT CAME OUT WRONG.]

I mean--the dorms. There's usually not too many free ones available, so you should try and grab one while you have a chance.

[Well, she'd rather not have any of her boys trapped here. But if one of them has to be, Edrear is probably the best candidate. He's certainly lower maintenance than his brother.

And not to worry - any embarrassing implications behind that question sail merrily over her head.]

Oh... no, not yet. That was going to be my next stop. [But you distracted her with your awesome motorized flaming sword. For shame, Nero.]

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Dead girl in da house

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