Better Left Forgotten

*Eve looks towards Gabe's phone*

<(I'll bet that's a picture of us.)>
---
Cameron:<(I think they, like, work for it or something.>

"Does it really matter at this point?" Mortal asked in hushed tones, stepping around the cat, "Hey... actually, that isn't the first time I've seen a mutilated animal like that. What the hell is up with these things?"

--

Sab looks to the back of the bus while Gabe flinches at the sound of her phone. She looks to see if it was a text, or call, and, most importantly who it is from.

Noct tensed a bit at the sudden sound behind her, and peeked over her shoulder to see what it was.

"You're probably right...."

*Aroma sighs sadly. It's not clear who it was. Additionally, the number is unknown. It is, in fact, a picture message.*
=======================
E"(I don't know. Sometimes, it seems like they're left for us. Other times, we just find them.)"

*Rounding the corner of the building, they are now in view of the door. An unmarked steel door, its paint has since chipped away, leaving it red-brown from rust. The knob appears to have fared better, having been made from aluminum. Euryale then grabs her shoulder.*

L"(We need to go!)"

E"(Wait. Listen.)"

*Despite everyone stopping, there are still foot steps scraping through the leaves towards them.*

Gabe frowns and checks the picture, "Moment of truth..."

--

Mortal turns to look in the direction of the footsteps, readying herself to either fight, or get away.

The three sit, Azuma and Mimiru glancing around the bus.

Eduj turned and stared hard at every person on the bus in turn.

*Cameron also turns toward the noise*
===
*Eve groans and shakes her head*

*Buses don't work that way, he can only see a few people from his vantage point. Predictably, it is a picture of them. And then a text message comes in, from the same number.*

So I'm old fashioned. >.>
===============================
*Euryale puts her machete away.*

L"(What are you doing?!)"

E"(It might just be a hiker! You wanna go away for murder?)"

L"(Your hiker looks like he's part of the trenchcoat mafia.)"

*Sure enough, Senthose climbs out of the bushes, this time wearing jeans, dark boots, & a long coat. He tugs at it after getting stuck. Euryale uses this time to grab him by the shoulders & push him up against a tree.*

S"Ow! Hell are you doing, you psycho?!"

E"What are you doing here?!"

S"This is where you said that you'd be!"

E"So you're following us?"

S"Are you listening? I came here because you said you'd be here. That's an interception, not a following. Following involves, you guessed it, following--tracking your movements from A to B."

E"Not in the mood for games, Senthose!"

S"Clearly. What pissed in your cereal this morning?"

Cameron:<One of us just got killed by a monster. This isn't a good time.>
===
Eve:<Well?>

Gabe frowned, and repeated the message, "...and then it ends with those little pointy bracket eye things. What does that even mean, old fashioned about what?"

"They're just trying to scare you," Noctis said.

"Well its working..." Gabe replied.

--

"Were you followed?" Mortal asked, "Like before, with the, uh... midget, or crawling guy or whatever?"

"This person is in the bus with us," Eduj said in a low tone. "They are using a phone, so they probably aren't... one of those. Should we investigate?"

A"I don't want to get thrown off of the bus. Besides, we're almost at the hospital."
====================================
S"Not as far as I know. I was attacked in my basement, but I think the fuse box...killed it, or something. That's when I came here."

L"It?"

S"A monster. Of the shadowy variety."

E"Are you saying that you believe us now?"

S"I think I know a Shadow Monster when it attacks me in person. So that's what's been following me around recently?"

E"Well, the crawling thing was probably something else."

Azuma: "Investigate how? Shake down anyone sitting at the back of the bus?"

"Aroma is right, just sit down," Noct said, "We've already beat the hell out of them, out numbered, and they had knives. I'm not worried about them. Let me know when you see something we should really worry about."

--

"Great, now we don't have to worry about that," Mortal said in regards to convincing Senthose about monsters. "How did the fuse box kill it though? We've been able to... get rid of them, I suppose, by throwing flares at them," Mortal said.

Eve:<I have to agree with Noctis.>
---
Cameron:<Maybe temporarily, however the Shadow always seems to come back.>

S"I may have done a little...rewiring. So, fuses & lightning, huh?"

E"Fire won't work. We already tried that."

S"Well, that also rules out heat."

L"Who cares what its weakness is! Thiera's still in here!"

*Lilith pulls the door open. She stands there for a moment, shocked, but then wordlessly shuffles through the door. Euryale runs towards the door.*

E"Wait, don't go in there alone, you don't know where it...leads?"
=================================
*And so the bus stops outside of the hospital.*

*Cameron follows after Euryale*
---
*Eve gets off the bus, then waits for the others*

The three pile off the bus, Azuma taking a glance at the back.

Eduj waited for Noctis and Astarte to get off of the bus before getting off himself, watching the back of the bus intently.

Everyone gets off the bus, and piles into the hospital ER. Assuming they make it to triage without incident, Noctis walks up to the receptionist and says, "Some of my friends are hurt really bad." At that she motions for Eduj to come over and look pitiful to prove her point.

--

Mortal follows after but continues to speak, "It is important because we can use that information to help save Thiera, and everyone else while we're at it."

E"This place looks as good as new...how did the power get turned on?"

<Well, I don't know why it would be off in the first place.>

*They jump, whirling around to see a nurse, blond & with a ponytail. The door they came through is just a janitor's closet.*

<Is...everything alright? And why do you have...?>

*Euryale follows her eyes to the machete, which is now clean.*

E"Uh, we just came from a camping trip. Sorry, we're a little disoriented."

<Yes, well, you're in a hospital now, so please put those things away. Are you hurt? Head injuries?>
==============================
<Mmm...how many of you?>

*Cameron looks around, stunned, them whispers to Mortal*

<(Could we have teleported?)>
===
Eve:<9, I think.>

Eduj, probably dripping a bit on the floor, lifted his hand from his shoulder now that they were in the light to see how much he had actually bled. Astarte took a deep breath and relaxed just a little.

Outside of possible psychological trauma, the other three just hang back out of the way.

"This place was a hospital," Mortal said, "So, more like time travel." After that Mortal simply chuckled and shook her head, looking around, "Great, wonderful..." She looked at the person who was talking to them, then asked, "Would you happen to have a patient here by the name of Thiera Psyche?"

--

"Not all of us are wounded though," Noct said.