Strange...[OPEN]

[absolute_perception]

Characters: Elian Zigmarl and YOU
Setting: Infirmary
Time: Day after the Mousetrap Event
Summary: Comatose Elian is waking up after getting killed. It's also his day to have his collar maintained.
Warnings: Talks about death and pain while coping with failure.

With his collar now refreshed, Elian remained still. His eyes fluttered open. His head ached. It hurt to breathe. The youngest HOLY Alter user and clone had said nothing. His eyes looked up at the ceiling, contemplating what he was left with. Was it worth talking about what happened? He did something stupid. Of course not. It was a lesson learned.

[OOC: Really sorry about the earlier delete. ^^;]

Comments

[terraformagica]

Amalia was hopelessly lost, even with the letter explaining the Tower's levels (somewhat) but now she'd gotten herself turned around. Now she was peeking into a room that was so white and sterile that it took her by surprise. Her bare feet made no sound as they crossed the floor.

"Ah... hello? Is anyone here?"

[absolute_perception]

Elian's head slowly turned toward the sound of a voice. He closed his eyes and drew in a deep breath. "Yes."

With a soft groan, he moved slowly to sit up. The sterility of his surroundings didn't offer much comfort. It was like the labs back home. At least there were no more tubes.

[terraformagica]

"Oh my goodness," Amalia said, her eyes getting wide and making her way over to Elian's side.

"Are you all right?"

It didn't matter that she didn't know who he was, he was obviously not well.

[absolute_perception]

"I'm okay." He looked to his hands resting on his sheet covered lap. The white hospital sleeper was all that he had on him. His HOLY uniform was folded neatly to the side.

"I went somewhere I shouldn't have." His answer was soft, but there was a little bit of weight in it. "I should have been more careful."

[terraformagica]

"Everyone makes mistakes," the Sadida girl said sympathetically. "Ah... would you like some water?"

She wasn't much of a nursing type, but she was at least trying.

[absolute_perception]

Elian looked up at her with a nod, "Yes, please."

There was a lot to learn about this place, and his curiosity took a turn that he shouldn't have taken this early. It was good that he got it out of the way as he had, and now he'll take his own advice seriously.

However, his emotions took a serious blow. While the Sadida girl left to fetch his water, his hands began to shake. 'What have I done?'

[terraformagica]

Amalia takes a cup from the nearby table and carries it to the sink, letting the water run nice and cold before filling the glass and returning to the bedside. But when she returned and saw his tremble, she put the water down on the table.

"O-Oh," she said. "What's wrong? Do you hurt?"

[xroyal_bratx]

Ishtar happened to be in the infirmary, looking around when she spotted a familiar boy laying down, and staring at the ceiling. Why was he here? Was he hurt? The last time she talked to him, he was perfectly fine. Ishtar rushed in without announcing herself as she called over to the boy.

"Elian!"

[absolute_perception]

His eyes widened accompanied by a sharp gasp. He coughed from the sharp, cold air from inside the infirmary. Quickly, he drew the covers over his face, his hands shook from his mistake.

"I'm sorry."

[xroyal_bratx]

Ishtar rushed over to him without asking what happened, just worried about him as he started to cough, "Elian are you okay? Why are you here?!"

She tugged the sheets a little. She wanted to make sure he was okay, "Where does it hurt? Are you injured?" she continued with a worried tone,not giving him much time to respond, but wanting to know if he was okay.

"What...what happened? Why are you sorry?" she stopped, furrowing her brows.

[absolute_perception]

There was no way he could fight off what was going on inside his mind and heart. The internal struggle he faced with Keiri just before the game he was drawn into, the uncertainty of not knowing what was going on in his world, the lies, the pain, made him act irrationally.

He let go of the sheet and tried to look at least somewhat dignified. "I...I didn't follow my own advice. I didn't mean to. I got careless." His eyes were closed tightly.

[xroyal_bratx]

"H-hey!" she grabbed the sheets as he lets go of them. He was hysterical, and she didn't understand or knew why he was being a little hysterical. He might not have been screaming or muttering incoherent words, but he was still freaked out over something. She grabbed his shoulder softly.

"Hey, you're not making any sense....what happened..what do you mean careless?"

[absolute_perception]

It was then that he looked up at her from the mild shock by the touch of her hands on his shoulders. He blinked in astonishment for a moment. She was right to assume that he was hysterical. It was a lot more than that. It was fear. Genuine fear pinned him down. He was aimless, chaotic, unbalanced, and to make matters worse, his psychological fortitude was nearly gone.

He shook from under her hands like a leaf as if his entire body was cold. "I'm...I'm...frightened."

He drew in a deep breath. It was the first time in his life that he felt that way since his release from the lab with his father. "I...there were so many. I thought...no, I didn't run, but I should have, and I didn't. It was...I was careless." He looked down at his hands.

Usually he had a means to fend them off, but he wandered in to the one place that he couldn't use his powers and that was a fatal mistake.

[fifth_kazekage]

Even though it wasn’t his job, Gaara occasionally stopped by the infirmary to check up on the medical supplies. With so much risk for injury and death, someone needed to make sure victims could get adequate medical care, until he figured out how many healers were present in the tower.

There was a sudden influx of patients, he noticed, and had just about turned to leave before he could be spotted. He still didn’t feel altogether like himself, and he wasn’t in the mood to socialize. But out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of someone familiar, and halted in his step.

“…Elian?”

[absolute_perception]

Elian's head turned toward the voice. He recognized it and the face, he definitely remembered the face. "Yes."

He didn't know what to make of all that has happened. All he knew was that he ventured somewhere he shouldn't have and was killed for it. He was so small on the bed and covered. Child-like, Elian's physical appearance didn't match.

Now that he was granted with a second chance, his life didn't really seem to be all that important anymore. "I have some information." Despite his words, his mental condition had taken a serious blow.

[fifth_kazekage]

The redhead hesitated, and after a moment, decided to step back into the room. He tucked himself in the corner next to the boy’s bed, trying to be inconspicuous.

Information was important, and he did want to know. But his concern overrode his ninja instincts for the time being. Elian was intelligent, but seemed very young. Even child soldiers had weaknesses, no matter how harshly they were trained.

“You are injured,” stating the obvious, “What happened?”

Was Elian on that floor before? Gaara frowned, recalling what he could about the malicious night. He didn’t remember encountering the boy, but…

[absolute_perception]

His head nodded in affirmation. It was more than injury. He was recovering from death. Under the blanket, his hands were shaking. It took every ounce of control he had to keep himself from breaking down. If it wasn't for the visits of a few other friends, he would have lost it completely and he wouldn't be here.

"I did not heed my own warnings and ventured into an area that I was unfamiliar with. My illogical action resulted in my demise. However, that is not what I wish to discuss." His resolve was still present and his confidence returned. Now, was the time to be the agent he was trained to be.

"As you already might have guessed, death has no relevancy here. An individual can perish and return. Murder, suicide, genocide may not hold the same significance, but the pain is consistent on the follow through as if one were hit by a truck. Eventually, it could create a rift that life and death no longer matter. I suggest caution." Elian's voice was steady, but quiet. He felt helpless now and even more helpless that he can never leave the tower even in death.

[fifth_kazekage]

“…Did you encounter monsters on the higher floors of this tower?” He had to know that much, even if the boy chose not to disclose anything else.

Gaara listened to his explanation with an impassive expression. At the facility, death hadn’t been permanent either. His sister was murdered by Madara Uchiha at one point, and then came back to life a few days later. So had a couple of his friends, after falling to their respective demises.

“I see,” he replied quietly, seeming unaffected by this news. Though it was certainly important for him to know, and he did wonder why the tower chose to keep people alive rather than let them die. There had to be a reason for it.

The facility had eventually desensitized some of the captives to the concept of death, after it happened so often. Gaara was a ninja, and had been trained to kill ever since he was old enough to move sand particles around, even if he couldn’t control it at the time. All in all, he regarded the revelation with mild curiosity, but no distress or surprise.

“How did you obtain this information? Have you observed others dying, or experienced it firsthand?” That was a logical question to ask, albeit insensitive, but Gaara didn’t mince words, unless he had to.

[absolute_perception]

"Affirmative." Elian said. He was used to insensitivity.

The need-to-know was now. If it were anyone else, he would have not referred to the topic at all. Humans were such curious creatures and relentless. There were no barriers between him and Gaara now.

"Upon awakening from my death, I have realized something important. If we become desensitized, if we choose to murder freely because we can, this tower's purpose would be clouded in chaos. Perhaps it is a means to keep us from finding the truth. I am uncertain at this time what that truth is." Elian didn't really appear bothered, but that was another story all together.

"The monsters on the upper floors are varied by adaptation to their worlds just as we are as the residents. It would take some time to classify them according to world, environment and adaptive methods via evolution."

[reddeadvirtuoso]

"'Sup slugger?"

It'd been a decent mount of time since the last time she'd seen him, and people being in hospital beds typically didn't mean very good things.

Jade was already pretty short, so it didn't take that much for her to look even short with the way she was hunching and crouching over, her fingers grabbing the edge of the bed as she let her head peak up to look at him.

[absolute_perception]

Elian heard the voice, his eyes stared up at the ceiling for a moment or two before he blinked in response. Getting over the sleep paralysis was already tough. Jade really helped him through some really strange situations even if he didn't understand it all.

"Jade...I think I missed." His voice sounded rough and dry. He didn't move yet considering the pain. It was everywhere and turning his head to look at her with a small, almost friendly smile didn't seem to hurt him as bad as he thought it would. He didn't feel alone in this place anymore.

"Donkeys hit a lot harder than I thought."

[reddeadvirtuoso]

She couldn't resist a laugh at the response. "Yeah, fierce, mangy assholes they are. Back sass them even once and they'll kick your teeth in to next Wednesday. Literally, you'll be walking along the street a week after your encounter, and you'll find your missing tooth in a crack on the sidewalk."

Said with a much more agreeable tone than usual because shit man, you don't screw with a dude that's all up in the hospital. "Your teeth seem to be pretty in tact though. No worries on that one."

[absolute_perception]

There was a soft, held back chuckle because it simply hurt too much to laugh. He wanted to, and that meant a lot more to him than staying too serious all the time even if it was a terrible personality trait of his. For the first time, he wanted to let go, to be himself and the more he allowed this openness, the more he wanted it.

"I'm glad for that. I don't wanna go to the dentist." It was these little moments that mattered so much to him. Elian was finally understanding things a little better now.

"How was that black egg?" Of course he already had a feeling about that answer.

[reddeadvirtuoso]

"Nastiest shit I ever tasted, to be honest," She said with a half smirk. "I feel like I'm gonna puke up a whole nest of flies one of these days and go all Lord of the Flies on this place because of that thing."

Pretend any of that sentence made sense.

"But my teeth are still doing better than yours, so we can confirm that this place at least has a pretty solid dental plan."

[absolute_perception]

"Sorry about the egg." He offered in a sympathetic tone. Slowly, he sat up and his hands gripped the blanket. The pain was terrible, but he was able to manage the movement.

"At least that's a small consolation. I guess it's better to have good teeth than visit the doctor because of plaque that clogs the arteries. It's a preventive measure." He took that advice to heart this time. A repeat performance certainly wasn't in the program.