Farewell Happy Fields!

[stringmods]

Farewell Happy Fields!

☯

What: Aftermath of Anoli Attack: Hospital
Where: Leo Ward - Caduceus Hospital Headquarters
Summary: It is the aftermath of the Anoli attack on the Closing Ceremonies. The injured have been taken to Caduceus Hospital Headquarters, and it is time for reflection, visting, or old-fashioned escapes from the hospital rooms.
Warnings: Mild squick if people want to describe their wounds in explicit detail.

Caduceus Hospital Headquarters. It has a distinguished history within Hinoto-Ri, boasting of a staff of well-trained Healers, as well as possessing the most cutting edge medical technology possible. There was no limb they couldn't reattach, no organ they couldn't replace... - they even claimed to be able to bring someone back from the dead (with the small disclaimer that it could only occur under certain conditions and with an obscene amount of luck).

So needless to say, the hospital was more than well-equipped to deal with the aftermath of the Anoli attack on the Closing Ceremonies.

---

Nearly every hospital bed had been filled by an injured patient that night. The A&E room had been in constant chaos, with civilians crying and shouting, searching for loved ones, or demanding to see doctors or healers to help so-and-so...

There had also been plenty of reporters milling about, shouting and crying over the status of the Mayor's Secretary, and whether the Red Lion had really died at the scene, or if he was still alive and well within the safety of the hospital's ICU.

By the time morning broke, there was a false sense of tranquillity within the hospital. The healers had been pushed to their limits with the sheer number of patients being wheeled in and out of surgery, but otherwise, the situation had finally gotten under control. Now, both civilians and visitors were merely waiting for word of the conditions of their injured friends and family...

[Welcome to the winding down of the event! You are now at the hospital, where you may be visiting the injured, or be one of the injured yourself! Those with RED injuries will be in the ICU, and those with YELLOW injures will be in normal wards, for obvious reasons. Those with GREEN injuries wouldn't have had to go to the hospital at all, so they are free to come and go as they wish!

You may all start your threads and mingle!]

Comments

Open to all

[misery_hates_company]

A broken rib and a few second-to-third degree burns. The doctors commented she's lucky the damage hadn't been worse.

They might as well have been, at least compared to the injury to her pride.

She looks out the window, her mouth taut. That battle should have been theirs to win. If that worm hadn't thrown out that last ditch maneuver, they should have won it. They even had a new, powerful addition to their arsenal. And they still lost.

That niggling though wells in her head again: Need more power need more power need it need it need it. She scowls, and shakes her head. Foolish. Nobody needs more power. Everybody she's ever seen fall fell because they pursued power to the detriment of everything else. She is above such thoughts. Such thoughts need to leave her head immediately.

Now to DIMINISH power...

She smirks. Now THAT would be a worthy project of her talents.

[otakuro]

"Hey, look on the bright side."

Having been felled by the same attack, they had been treated in the same part of the hospital. Burn recovery, concussive force damage from the explosion, etc. etc. Not the same room, though, given the gender thing. It had taken him a few days to work up the strength - or even the desire - to leave his room, but he stands now to lean against the doorway.

Against doctor's orders, of course, but no one was watching.

"We've got a nemesis now! It will be that much more satisfying when we finally beat him. ...Preferably with Personas that absorb fire and status effects."

Well he was awfully cheerful.

[misery_hates_company]

She snorts. "Well aren't we the eternal optimist," she replies. "Yes, crushing that man will certainly be most rewarding." A small cackle. "Still, that I should have been laid so low to begin with... Some of these Anoli are truly forces to be reckoned with."

She thinks. "What do you suppose that was back there? Between the pair of us, and between you and that girl. A rather curious set of circumstances, wouldn't you say?"

[otakuro]

Atsuro had thought over the matter himself during the time he had been out of commission.

"If it's gotta do with Persona, we'd be better off asking the guys in the Velvet Room. But..."

He gives Misery a slight smile.

"You heard it, too, right? Something about the 'power of our bonds'... They're always going on about how it's important to make friends and that sort of thing, so... Maybe this is the reason why."

[misery_hates_company]

She sighs a long suffering sigh. "Yes yes yes, I suppose this is where I get to hear some dreck about the 'power of friendship' and 'bonds lasting eons' and whatever, blah blah. Like I haven't heard that stuff before." She shakes her head. "Such a load of rot. I suppose that entity DID help us, though. For a bit, anyway."

She's not going to admit anything, and you can't make her, man.

[otakuro]

"But Misery! How are we going to unlock our secret mass group Persona if we don't all recognize the power of love?"

Atsuro's exclamation is innocent, and almost a little too out-of-character facetious.

"Yeah, I've heard it all before, too. This kind of thing is supposed to work in movies and video games and anime... If I got any extra powers from being around my friends back home, it was just that they kept me sane when the world was collapsing around us."

He gives a shrug.

"But... I'm not gonna complain if it's a real phenomenon here, either."

[misery_hates_company]

"Oh my, I suppose we're simply doomed, then! What a pity, oh ho ho ho ho." Say what you will, she's getting better at playing along with this stuff.

She snorts. "I suppose I shall not as well. Just don't expect me to brag about too many. Far too many fools here for me to connect with. Speaking of fools..."

She looks out the window. "So... what do you think? The Anoli are miserable wretches, to be certain, but are you inclined to believe them about the outside? I am."

[otakuro]

Atsuro is quiet for a few moments at this next question, not responding until he's shuffled towards a chair closer to Misery's bed to sit down.

"...I think it's likely. But..."

A short pause as he collects his thoughts.

"It would mean a lot of deception on the government's part. The books in the library - I think Arturia and I are still the only ones who've gone through them, but there were a lot. And they all said the same thing. It's not like they were written by the same person, either; every book that talks about the recent history of Hinoto-Ri says that there's destruction outside the barrier. Since it's only been ten years or so... I thought they were writing from first-hand experience. I don't know how the government would have managed to pull off such a huge scam without lying constantly out of their..."

He refrains from finishing the curse word.

"Anyway. Whatever their shortcomings are... I've still gotta side with the government, for now. The Anoli... The Anoli's stance is clear, and it's so bad it shouldn't even be an option."

[misery_hates_company]

She looks at him, then, closes her eyes. "You know, though, people don't always lie out of maliciousness. Sometimes they lie out of a misplaced concern for others. Or fear." She opens her eyes. "And sometimes, if enough people share these concerns, these fears, then they are more than willing to help perpetuate the lie. Some would argue that's how religions start."

She looks out the window. "To be honest, I don't care one way or the other what's out there. I'm perfectly comfortable in here. But you really MUST wonder what they're so afraid of they'd keep everybody locked inside a snug little cage like this."

She pauses. "Or what the Anoli stand to gain from letting them loose into a terrible wasteland."

[otakuro]

Atsuro nods thoughtfully to her words.

"...It might make sense from another perspective, too. ...A city inside a bubble. It doesn't work. They make things like clothes and electronics; we've got gas and electricity and oil... Where is it all coming from? Where are we getting the natural resources we need for all of this stuff if we're trapped inside a barrier? Computers don't just come out of factories from thin air; you need plastic and metal and silicon."

He pauses.

"The guy who brought us here... He never said we were supposed to help the government fight off the demons, did he? We just all kind of... assumed."

[misery_hates_company]

"Or rather, the government came to us first. It is hard to say how they did or did not know of our arrival, but there you have it. I had no intention of fixing my alliance to them from the start. I merely assist against the demons because it works to my benefit."

She looks up. "One way or another, regardless of how idiotic their actions were, their words will touch hearts. Factions will only grow from here. I DO hope you're prepared for that... and know what your own alliance is."

[otakuro]

"Hah..."

Atsuro shakes his head with a wan smile.

"I had a choice, once before... It seems like a long time ago now. We were meant to side with the angels or the demons in the coming conflict." A brief pause. "Literally. Sounds easy, right? But it turns out, neither of them were any good..." At least, for him and the Kazuya back in his world. "To take command of the demons to rise up against God for true freedom in total chaos... or to enforce God's kingdom on earth to strip humans of their will."

"We couldn't do it. ...So we took a third choice. Our choice." He glances towards Misery briefly. This was the first time he had explained things so thoroughly to anyone here, as he recalled. "Maybe that's why the demons here are just like the ones we had back home. It's almost the same choice all over again."

"Freedom in chaos or happiness without free will."

Another pause.

"We can find another choice again."

[misery_hates_company]

She pauses. And then, quickly, that snide smile of her is back on her face, and she chortles. "Good answer, yet again! We'll make a smart one of you yet. Exactly! The best route is the third choice! I like it." She smirks. "Well, let's not be forgetting that then! After all, this is certainly not the end of things."

❤

[poorlittleblueburdie]

Avitus paused just outside her door to pull another feather out, and then stepped in, quiet. He paused near her bed, realizing she was actually awake after all, and tried giving her a little smile.

"Hi...."

[misery_hates_company]

Still facing away from the door, she replies testily, "Honestly, you don't need to change the bandages AGAIN? You only did it in the last..."

She turns around. "Oh. You're certainly not a doctor. Do you need something?" she asks.

[poorlittleblueburdie]

"Ah... no," he started, voice quiet, his giant wings sinking a little around him, half retreating from how he'd been loosely hugging himself with them. "I was just going to give you something, if you wanted...?"

He held up the feather -- about fifteen inches long, and six wide, a shiny, round, jet black thing. He ran his fingers over it again briefly, making sure the barbs were all properly locked together, and offered it over to her.

"Where I'm from, the hunters of my clan protect the humans... and so, the humans tend to keep our feathers for good luck and protection. I thought that with everything that's happened, if there was any fortune to be had from a simple feather, it wouldn't hurt."

For being a "simple feather" like he claimed, it was freaking huge.

[misery_hates_company]

She blinks. A... gift? This is the second time she's been gifted something with little or nothing expected in return, and it still bewilders her why anybody would even bother. Still, it is a nice feather, and even if she doesn't use it for protection, it might have some interesting alchemical elements to it.

"Well, I suppose I wouldn't begrudge someone giving me something for nothing! I'm QUITE fond of gifts, after all. Ho ho ho!" She's a little better at handling it than she used to be, but you are DEFINITELY in her mental good books now. She takes the feather. "I must say, though, it's quite interesting for you to be giving ME something of all people when I don't even know your name! My, my, if only more people just gave me things."

[poorlittleblueburdie]

"I was... ah... making rounds," he admitted, smiling shyly as he took to absently rubbing on one of his nails (claws? talons? they looked like they should be such, but they were cut shorter, like a human's should be....)

"My name is Avitus... and you are?"

[misery_hates_company]

"Call me Misery. Resident potion-maker and alchemist. Charmed, I'm sure." She snorts. "Though I cannot say I would have imagined myself laid up like this. I suppose that's what I get for being foolish enough to try and stick my neck out. Oh well, I'll get my own back soon enough."

She's so... CONFIDENT about that.

[poorlittleblueburdie]

"...Misery?"

Surely that wasn't her real name? But then, why in the world would one choose such a name for themselves? He tried dismissing the thought; it wasn't especially helpful at the moment.

"You're an alchemist who makes potions? Of what sort, might I ask?" He did seem plenty curious about that -- perhaps he could eventually become a customer of hers?

Or a supplier of reagents, even? Who knew what fun things could be made of a (vampire's) feathers?

((...this smells like potential plotting fodder, somehow. XD ))

[misery_hates_company]

"Is there a problem with it? It is my name, after all." She had a different name, once. But it hasn't been relevant. Not for a long time. And either way, it's nobody's business but her own.

"Oh, you know. Healing tonics, cure stones. Little poultices. I've been working on new formulas, though, especially with the ASTOUNDING range of beasts and demons in this place," she replies. "It's quite profitable for an enterprising witch."

[poorlittleblueburdie]

He shook his head, dismissing the idea that there was anything wrong with her name. It merely struck him as being highly unusual, that was all.

"I'd imagine it is. And there's a good demand for such here, I assume?" ...asks the Guest who's avoided the Thirteenth Hour as much as he's been able, so far....

[misery_hates_company]

"Hmm, demand enough. Not everybody can cast a healing spell at the drop of a hat, you know. And I make some RATHER effective poultices even when they aren't quick fixes." She's nothing if not proud of her work.

[poorlittleblueburdie]

"I'm... well aware, yes." His smile turned a bit sad at that. "And not everyone can heal themselves quickly, without aid."

A small sigh, playing with his nail again as he put his wings up around his torso again, hugging himself once more with them. "Have you considered perhaps making those things for this hospital to use as well?"

[misery_hates_company]

"I'd be more than willing to offer! If they have the money, of course. I'm a craftswoman, you know. I need to make a living." Charity is a bad word in Misery's vocabulary, it seems.