Better Left Forgotten

*Eve shrugs, then heads back in and continues packing*

There comes the thud of Taiyo falling out of bed.

===================================

Azuma: "Yeah, in a few."

Mortal rushes into the hallway and looks to see if he was still there, "Hey! Where are you?!"

Sab rushed to Aroma's side, and pulled her into a hug, "It's okay. No one is going to hurt you."

Gabe rushed to the doorway to make sure Mortal was okay, and Noctis was still on the verge or alertness, waiting on a response from Astarte.

"Screaming," Astarte replied as she slipped out of bed and dashed over to the bedroom door, inching it open and peering out.

Hector and Eduj were up at this point and getting ready to go. Hector gently shook Cameron awake on the couch.

Noct rubbed her eyes, and joined Astarte, opening the door wider, "What's up?"

Sab explained what was up causing Noctis to go to where Gabe was, and check out what was going on in the hall.

*Aroma hugs back, still trembling, & now crying.*

"Th-thank you, S-sab."

*There is no one to be seen, though scrawled on the wall in small pencil scratch is "Gone. Was just waiting to say good morning."*
=============================
"Alright, thank you. Do you need to ask me about anything before the trip?"
=============================
*Euryale rushes into her room to make sure Taiyo is alright. Once she spots her on the floor, she drops down next to her & starts to support her neck, head, & shoulders with her arm.*

"You okay? You just fell, right?"

Mortal is stunned to see her question answered in such a fashion. She takes one last look around, then ushers everyone back inside, and locks the door.

"What's wrong?" Gabe asked.

"Nothing, just... something weird was written on the wall," Mortal said. "Last night, did anyone make sure to lock the door?"

Noct shook her head, "I don't remember."

"Well, make sure from now on," Mortal said.

"What is the message?" Astarte asked, having followed almost to the door.

Taiyo rubs her head, smiling sheepishly.

Taiyo: "I'm all right. Just a normal morning."

===================================

Azuma: "Nah, we're all right."

"All right. I will see you later today. Farewell."
=====================
"That's good. I thought so, but with everything that's going on, I wanted to make sure. We found Nero, by the way."

Taiyo: "Is he okay? Has Roatha been found too?"

===================================

Azuma: "Later."

And so he hangs up.

Azuma: "Shit, should've asked what time we're meeting at."

Mimiru: "And where."

Azuma: "Double shit."

Eve:<Everything alright in there?>

*Eve continues packing her items in the same backpack she used last time*

"It isn't important," Mortal said, not wanting to scare Sab and Aroma, or the others for that matter. "I don't think you guys should go to this silly thing. If people are going to come after in as blatant a place as your home, then someplace like an abandoned mill or whatever the hell is just way too dangerous."

"We're going to go," Noct said, "This danger is exactly what'll continue if we don't."

"Then I'm going with you," Mortal said.

Sab looked a bit happier at the notion of Mortal tagging along.

Astarte rubbed the back of her neck and wandered into the kitchen for a glass of water.

Hector sent a message to Thiera, Just about ready. When/where we meeting up?

Thiera: There is a classroom building near the front gate of the campus. I think it would be a good idea to meet just inside, as soon as possible.

*She also forwards this to the others on her contact list.*
=========================
*Euryale looks back.*

E"It's fine, Taiyo just fell out of bed!"

*She then looks back to Taiyo.*

E"He's fine, he was just looking for Roatha. Roatha's still missing."
=========================
*As no one seems to remember her, Tirea wakes up in the hospital.*
=========================
*Aroma clings to Sab more tightly, but stops burying her face in her shoulder to look up. Her face is red, puffy, & wet.*

A"If it'll stop this nightmare, then we should go as soon as possible!"

Taiyo: "Oh..."

===================================

Azuma: "That solves that issue. Guess we should start packing."

And so they do just that.

*Tirea blinks, trying to figure out where she is*
===
Cameron:<Any news?>
===
<Just checking!>

"We should dress and get ready, probably bring a bottle of water or something," Astarte said, filling her own glass. She heard her phone vibrate on whatever surface she had left it on in Noct's room and walked off to check it.

Hector put his cell away and looked over at Cameron, "Not really, but we're meeting soon. Time to get ready."

Sab nodded, and stood up, helping Aroma up as well. She gave her another hug, then took a few steps towards their room, "Lets get ready."

The others retreated to their own space to do much the same. Noct followed in after Astarte, and shut the door behind them. Noctis stalked over to her dresser, running her hands over her face in an attempt to wake herself up a bit more as she did. Once there she got dressed in a long sleeved, black shirt, and jeans. She put on a pair of black hiking boots as well, before she walked over to a nightstand, and picked her her phone as it was connected to the charger. Seeing it at 100%, she pulled it off the charger, then put it in her pocket.

In that time Gabe had put on last year's track suit, thinking she wouldn't mind if it got dirty, and was munching on some toast. Mortal was munching on a few slices of her own, dressed in a red tee and jeans.

*Presumably, they eventually meet. Inside of the building is a fairly simple hallway, white walls with blue classroom doors set into them at semi-regular intervals, & matching blue tile. To the left  of the door, it eventually slopes upward as a ramp, leading to a set of oak doors with small windows in them. To the right, it leads to a door to a stairwell, signified by the EXIT sign above it, & eventually curves back around a wall & into the rest of the building. The door itself is a large set of double doors, painted black, with no windows. Opposite the door is a bulletin board with sheets of paper of various color stapled onto it. Aroma clings tightly to Sab's hand, & Euryale has an arm around Taiyo. Lilith & Nero are just leaning against either side of the door frame. Thiera stands in front of the bulletin board, looking at the crack below the doors.*

T"So, is there anything that needs to be said before we go?"

A"Well...there was a masked man in Noct's apartment this morning. He ran off when I saw him."

T"We've been told, at great length, that we are being watched even when we think we're alone, so it's possible that he might know what we're planning on, whoever he is."

L"And you still want to go?"

E"I don't think it'll be a problem. Let him try to attack us, we'll see how well he can watch us with a pair of black eyes & a concussion."

L"He also may have monsters."

E"Well, we got special surprises for them, didn't we?"

*Aroma's grip tightens & she looks hopeful.*

A"Really? You mean you can stop the Shadow!?"

E"Well, no. That's really the one thing that we haven't got covered."

N"But, hey, we have face masks."

*Nero shrugs. Aroma looks deflated.*

N"So at least we won't have to worry about the asbestos."

Azuma: "That's one victory for us at least."

"I think we should discuss what we do if a creature or masked man suddenly does appear. All of us reacting in the moment could cause chaos, especially with people here lacking in experience," Hector gestured vaguely to Sabroma, Mortal and Noctis. "For example we should make it resoundingly clear that the priority is to escape anything other than a person. Punching the Shadow into submission doesn't work."

Cameron:<I wouldn't try fighting a monster ether.>
===
*Tirea yells again*

Sab is quietly panicking about her sore hand, but doesn't want to take it away from Aroma.

Mortal smiled and nodded, "Yeah, what she said. Euryale, wasn't it?"

"Yeah," Noctis said, in reply to Mortal, then continued on to Hector, "I do believe it has already been made clear. Beat up bad guys, run from monsters."

"Can we just hurry up," Gabe said, "I don't like being here."

*Thiera heads toward the door. With a breath, she opens it a crack, & looks out. Then everyone presumably files onto the bus outside of the campus gates. The ride is cramped, with most of them being forced to stand. About half an hour later, they disembark at a small street with only a few small, run-down houses with overgrown lawns seasoned with various forms of garbage. As the bus drives off, Thiera points to a dilapidated grey building on a hill, visible behind a thick overgrowth.*

T"That's the asylum."

*Euryale looks up & down the road, noticing that, while there are only a few houses, there are visible roofs of a number of shacks, cellars, & other buildings related to the abandoned orphanege & asylum spread throughout the hills.*

E"I don't see any monsters or bad guys, but I guess these would be pretty good conditions to ambush us in."
========================
*Tirea never yelled in the first place, but an old man nurse comes in.*

<Oh, so you're finally awake, little girl.>