{ THE CORRIDOR OF SECRETS }

[and be blue]

He was far enough away, now, that he hadn't been associating with the strangers -- but at the sound of familiar voices [or, well, voice], Ever twisted in place and blinked until the mess of red hair that meant Cami came into vision. Then, with a wary look to the cluster of monsters [many of whom he'd had Very Bad Dreams about], he picked his way over carefully to settle with the rest of the hunters.

Almost immediately he relaxed, even if he only vaguely recognized Maebe, and not at all Hanna or Chel, offering Cami a brief twitch of a smile. It was wan, unconvincing. "I'm glad to not be grossly outnumbered, at least?"

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Nesshime

chimarii

Nio Love

akina tokuwa

 

[medigel]

He was finally ******** there, good ******** lord. Or, well, this didn't seem to be the top of the tower. s**t. But it wasn't pools or nasty voices or annoying dreams, so Jack would take it. He stayed off to the side to get his bearings, scanning the room warily.
 

[chiickadee]

At Jack's arrival, Chel immediately perked up and flitted to his side. "Jaaack you made it!" It was a completely different tone than she'd had moments ago, much less awkward and way less unconvincing.

She tugged on his sleeve and said, "Look, my Halloween friends made it too! This is-" She held her tongue, remembering that they were of a different race and might have liked their privacy more. "Uh, well names aren't important. But that one- she can make ice out of nothing!! And the dude has like fifty daggers." Chel was starting to sound like she was on the wrong side, honestly. "Think there's any way Life could make an ice making machine thing?? I would love ice powers."

blade kuroda

zyphiris

ol-j-man

yes hello u thought i wouldnt see u HA

 

[Blade Kuroda]

Shun just stared at Chel.

What.  

[medigel]

"Of course I did." He knew this couldn't be a fabrication of his mind because otherwise Chel wouldn't be there. Alternatively, he was still quite lost somewhere in his head and had simply lost it.

Jack gave her a similar what look before it clicked. Right. The group from Wonderland had been comprised of Halloween people, hadn't it. "Ah," he said simply, turning his gaze to the demon and reaper (with mixed amounts of disturbed and intrigued about how very human it really looked). At least he didn't make a comment about how Chel did need to cool it. "Maybe. We'll see. But names are quite important, I would think," he said, still wary in spite of the Sun's enthusiasm as he extended the conversation out to the odd pair. "Wonderland companions, I presume?"

Blade Kuroda

Zyphiris

chimarii

i find ur lack of faith disturbing >8V

 

[chiickadee]

Chel pantomimed a zipper across her mouth, childishly throwing away an imaginary key. "Not my name to tell!"

She loved Jack, but she also respected personal privacy because Deus was often oh so lacking in that department.

blade kuroda

ol-j-man

zyphiris

 

[Seussi]

Shaheen was there, and she was glaring at absolutely everyone in the room she could see. There were far to many white coats here, too many for her to hope to challenge all on her own though she was very tempted to try.

Where the hell were all of the horsemen?? She would have at the very least expected Shikoba to have made it this far.

She was never going to let him hear the end of this one.  

[Midnightglow18]

Eye sighed she really didn't know anyone here, she usually shut herself away in her work shop, rather than socializing. She knew she really should get to know her fellow horseman, but that required some measure of trust to open up to them and she wasn't sure if she was ready for that.  

[Inle-roo]

Finally, there didn't seem to be any other obstacles between Evan and the rest of the tower--no mazes, no quests, no horrifying hoops to jump through, just one long, blessedly quiet hallway that terminated in a room full of Hunters and a bunch of ******** monsters. Mostly monsters, unfortunately. Gir was in his hand in half a heartbeat, but Evan was distressed to find that he couldn't lift him high enough to hit anything. This could be a problem; it looked like they were pretty outnumbered.

He made a beeline for a familiar mop of bright pink hair, bumping shoulders with Chel. "Why are we not killing the s**t out of these things?" Evan asked her, an angry, wary glance given to each of the things in question, his weapon still securely in his hands.

chimarii

made it yey

 

[chiickadee]

Chel scowled at Evan and hit him over the head with Tenebrae (don't worry, not the pointy part. Chel doesn't hate you Evan). "'Cause they're COOL dipshit. They're my friends. Don't kill my friends Evan. Well at least him and ice tits. Not sure about the other two. The uh ... that one," she gestured to Eye, still unsure of what to call her, "Said she wasn't gonna harm us. So you better not harm her neither, she hasn't done nothin' wrong."

Tenebrae was then desummoned, and Chel put her hands on her hips. She was giving Evan the motherly "I am counting to three in my head before I whoop your a**" look.

inle-roo

bad evan. bad.

 

[Inle-roo]

"Ow, what the hell?" Evan spared some of his attention to frown down at Chel. "The only cool monster is a dead one," he retorted. "These aren't friends. They're prey." Gir growled his agreement, the sound rising as Evan's gaze followed where Chel pointed and he caught sight of the freakshow he had countered in that room full of rooms. "That one, especially. Whose side are you on, anyway?"

chimarii

talk2hand

 

[chiickadee]

"I'm on the side of not killing stuff just because Caelius is having a bad hair day," she said, crossing her arms. She definitely wasn't about to point Tenebrae at Evan with multiple hunters in the room to watch her, but she also wasn't going to let Evan kill some friends of hers.

She gently placed a hand on the side of Gir, prodding him downwards gently. In a more quiet voice she said, "Evan please?" Her eyes drifted to Maebe and the others, worried they'd see her as traitorous and report her. Chel was caught between a rock and a hard place. "Just give them a chance, that's all I'm asking."

inle-roo

 

[medigel]

Jack was raising multiple inner eyebrows and decided Chel's file truly needed an update after this. For now, watching her plead for strangers was a welcome break from the nightmares he had gone through to get there.  

[Inle-roo]

"Just because," Evan started, low and incredulous. "How about just because we've got our orders, huh?" He leaned in to growl. "How about just because killing these freaks is your entire ******** job?" He jerked away from Chel as if her misguided sympathy was contagious. He gripped the hilt of his sword tighter to keep from lashing out, suddenly furious--at Chel, at whatever was keeping them from killing the monsters, at Deus for recruiting civilians to fight their war and then never bothering to teach them which side they were supposed to be on.

chimarii

 

[Akina Tokuwa]

Hanna had never formally met Maebe and she was too messed up in the Corridor of the Ancients to remember the face. Still, it was clear that she was missing something between Cami and the blonde girl. They were holding hands? Leaning in? Sharing secrets? Huh, weird.

Wincing when Cami mentioned what she had said, Hanna shifted her weight to her other foot and said, "At least not friendship being the opiate of the masses. Crazy me is hyperbolic. Obviously." She thought she should introduce herself to Maebe, but company was mixed and the two other girls seemed to be having a moment. Golden eyes scanned the room, lingering on the other faces and freezing on the horseman. This was the first time she had actually seen one up close.

Her decision was to stare curiously. Because. It was as if her eyes could absorb all knowledge about them. Fingers itched to take a sample of anything -- hair, skin, blood. Caelius' words still hammered in her. Eliminate any horsemen. So, here were some horsemen -- should they get to eliminating? A familiar face from around the Island (Chel) was vouching for them. "You know them?" Hanna asked Chel, confused.

More Hunters arrived. Some she knew -- Jack, Evan -- and some she didn't -- Ever. This Chel person was quickly dropping down her list of People I Can Work With. Did she just call the Halloween creatures her friends? Hanna shot Jack a look, as if to say: What the ******** is wrong with her? but hid it from the Halloweeners. As long as they were talking, Hanna was learning.

Unfortunately, they weren't really talking.

And Hanna doubted Evan's words would inspire anything.

Cautiously, she took a slow step toward Shun and Eye. "Why are you here?" she asked. Then, realizing they might need a show of trust, she volunteered something she considered harmless: "We came to collect lost weapons tablets from the wreckage. What I don't understand is why you are here too?" With facial tattoos, Hanna was maybe the least human-looking one? Maybe? (Not really.)

In any event, she was giving it a try.

ol-j-man

She is trying to eye talk you, Jack.

nesshime

nio love

inle-roo

blade kuroda

chimarii

midnightglow13

and be blue