Better Left Forgotten

S"I don't know enough to say. Euryale just left to find you. If we are in the same building, then you should see her shortly. She hasn't been treated yet."

*Eventually, the nurse leaves, casting them a suspicious look before heading down the hall.*
==============================
*And so Euryale comes out. Her hand is pressed against her wound, but the dry blood is still visible on her arm, so she tries to cross them as much as possible. Also visible is a small amount of fresh blood around her fingers.*
==============================
<So wot DID you see? By the by, you'll need to take your shirt off, so I can get a closer look.>

"Ah, I think I see her now," Noctis said, standing and waving to Euryale.

Gabe and Sab both look over at Euryale incredibly confused, Gabe most of all. "Wait, how did you... but I thought you were..." Gabe just shook her head, "Whatever, are you alright, where is everyone else?"

Eduj took his shirt off, wincing a little as he had to move his shoulder, "I saw something or someone big rush me from the edge of my sight, then I was sprawling and with these gashes, and after that I just ran and didn't look back."

Taiyo goes running up to Euryale.

Taiyo: "What happened?"

She then looks around for a nearby doctor or something.

*Eve approaches as well*

<At least everyone is safe.>
===
*Cameron doesn't follow*

S"I see. Then there's no sense in staying on the line."

*Senthose abruptly hangs up.*

E"(Shh! I haven't let anyone see my arm yet. I wanted to see you first.)"

*Instead of a doctor, Taiyo spots a familiar shadow being projected from around a corner. A nurse passing by looks down the hall, looks around in confusion, & shivers, before quickly shuffling back in the direction she came from.*

E"We just opened the door &...it led here. We don't understand it either."

A"But...everyone IS safe...right...?"

*Aroma wrings her hands.*
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*Senthose hangs up in part because Nero approached him after the nurse left. Roatha has put his phone away & leaned back, & might actually be asleep.*

N"I was thinking...we went through a door & found ourselves in the basement. That's where Roatha was taken. Then we passed through another, & found ourselves with the monsters. Then you sent the others away, & we found ourselves here."

S"Yeah, so? Everywhere you, went, there...was...."

*Lilith looks around at them, slightly paler than usual.*

L"...Something waiting for you."
================================
*He inspects the wound with a little doctor light.*

<And where'd this happen?>

Noctis put her phone away, and sat back down, not seeing the need to stay up now that Euryale found the group.

Sab looked from Aroma to Euryale, realizing she hadn't heard from Mortal yet, "Yeah, how is Thiera, Nero, and Roatha?"

--

"Then... does that mean they're here as well?" Mortal asked, "Damn, maybe we shouldn't have let Euryale go off alone."

Cameron:<They're always one step ahead.>
===
Eve:<It's best to assume no one is safe at the moment.>

Taiyo freezes up for a second.

Taiyo: "Oh. But you should see a doctor."

"Kind of wooded area near that old TB asylum," Eduj said.

<Huh? Why were you up there? It's way out there in the sticks.>

*He looks around, as if making sure that no one is listening.*

<And, if I might say, pretty creepy.>
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"Yeah, I guess that's true...I'll be right back, I promise. Oh, & everyone's fine. Or...well...we didn't lose anyone else. I'm sorry, but I have to go."

*So she turns & pushes through the doorway.*
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L"There's not really any point in worrying about her. It might sound cold, but if it wanted to attack us, we couldn't do anything to stop it anyway, group or no group."

N"So it's sending us where it wants us to--"

S"Wrong."

N"What?"

S"As you just said, you frequently appear somewhere where it was RECENTLY."

N"We already know that it's following us."

S"But what you are apparently too thick to grasp is that YOU have followed IT."

N"Again, what?"

S"If this creature can connect a door, both figuratively & literally, across time & space, then perhaps it can also leave that door open. In other words, the only reason why you can keep finding yourselves "teleported," as you put it, is because you are retracing the monster's steps."

N"Okay...so what can we do to stop it?"

S"Reorganize space & time. So good luck with that."

*Nero glares at him.*

N"Then why even bother explaining this!?"

Taiyo follows along up until she's told otherwise.

"Great so what has actually happened is that we wound up tagging along on some Old God's Sunday stroll," Mortal said.

--

Sab lets out a sigh of relief, "Then everyone is okay. That's good, right?" She turned to look at Aroma for that last part.

Cameron:<Ok, you have a suspiciously high amount of knowledge about the shadow.>
===
Eve:<For now.>

"Hiking," Eduj said, tired of speaking.

Astarte squeezed Noct's arm.

<Well, you're definitely going to need stitches. Which means a local anesthetic, followed by lots of shots.>
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S"It's simple logic. Matter can't simply disappear & reappear by magic. To get from one point to another, it must follow a path."

L"And, in order for a path to be walked on, it has to already exist. Since the Shadow is the only thing that can make those paths--"

S"Then it--"

N"Oh my God, who gives a shit!?"

S"...As I was saying--"

L"Then it must have come this way."
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*They run into that nurse, & Euryale just points to her slashed & bleeding arm. The nurse turns to Taiyo.*

E"It's alright, I don't mind if she's in the room with me. If she wants, I mean. What are you going to be doing, anyway?"

<It depends. Stitches, at the least.>
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"I don't know...I keep thinking about how they just ended up here. Doesn't that mean that anything from that asylum could come here at any time?"

Cameron:<Oh god, Tirea's here.>
===
Eve:<We must assume it's a possibility.>

Mortal said, "If that is true, then we're no safer than we were at the asylum. We should regroup and get out of here."

--

Noctis tensed up, and squeezed Astarte's hand, "She's right." Noct worriedly checked her surroundings for anything suspicious.

"Wait, but nothing has happened since we got here," Gabe said.

"Yeah," Sab said, "Euryale got here on her own just fine."

"That doesn't mean nothing is here," Noct said.

Astarte squeezed Noct's arm a second time, though now she was looking at her shoes.

"Fine."

*Euryale & the nurse head into a room regardless of whether or not Taiyo follows along.*
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S"What are we supposed to do, kick down the doors, grab anyone who's in the middle of being treated, & insist that we're leaving? What you SHOULD do is get something for those burns."

L"I don't think she would have been harmed, but I guess that we can never guarantee. I'll take you to her, if you'll show me the way."
================================
*They notice that creepy-ass familiar-looking shadow on the corner wall that's been lurking there since Taiyo & I'd just assumed everyone else saw it.*

*Cameron sticks his head outside the door*

<Um, excuse me?>
===
*Eve sits awkwardly back down*

Taiyo is indeed following.

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

Azuma: "Damn it...."

Mortal frowned, feeling the pain push itself into the forefront of her thoughts, "I suppose you're right. I've just been trying to ignore it." She walked over to the door, and began to make her way to triage so she could find doctor, or nurse to take a look at her.

--

"We need to leave," Noctis said, "Now."

"But what about the others?" Gabe asked, feeling her heart sink as she saw the shadow, "We can't just leave them."

*Eve looks over at the shadow, then texts Euryale, Cameron, and Thiera*

Looks like our buddy is here.

Astarte fidgeted and continued to stare at her feet.

Eduj presumably was attended to.