Chapter 10: Doldrums Part 2

3:28 P.M. Day Four

First Floor

Sanctuary

Clarisse was looking over the adornments within the Sanctuary, when she heard the door open behind her. Turning, she saw Sabishī enter the room, looking rather pensive. She seemed surprised to find someone in the room already.

"Clarisse. Hey. What are you doing here?"

"Just looking around. Didn't really linger around here on the tour, so…" She looked over at the Undertaker. "What about you? Looking for anything in particular?"

"No, n-not really. Just, thinking, I guess." The girl seemed somewhat downtrodden for some reason. Well, besides everything else, obviously. "Oh, and, Kuuma spoke with me in the graveyard earlier today."

"You okay?" Clarisse asked, concerned something might've happened.

"Yeah yeah, I'm fine, he just gave me this." She held up an ornate key currently hanging around her neck. "Apparently, since I'm the one associated with the graveyard, I'm now the one in charge of opening the Mausoleum door when a trial happens. And no, I can't refuse to open the door, he covered that already."

"Huh. Odd they'd do that. But he didn't do anything else, right?"

"No, just left after some warnings about staying away from the graveyard at night." She explained, still looking forlorn as she stared around the room. "... d-Do you think there was anything we could've done?" At Clarisse's confused glance, she elaborated. "About the k-killings a couple days ago. w-Was there anything any of us could do to stop anyone from dying?"

The Markswoman was surprised. "Uh ..." she thought about that for a minute, the younger girl staring at her with a borderline-desperate intensity. "... I-I honestly don't know. I'm not sure there was, honestly." Sabishī started to look downcast again. "Considering we're talking about a tall living statue armed with a mace and killing intent, I don't think any of us besides Logan could've stopped him, with or without killing him."

"And Harris?" Sabishī asked. "We were all right there. How'd no one notice the chandelier about to fall? He didn't need to die! We should've saved him!" She was getting more emotional as she went on.

"Calm down." Clarisse interrupted, hands up placatingly. "Everyone was distracted, and he was the one who decided to jump around laughing that someone besides him died." She walked up in front of the young Undertaker. "The only ones to blame for any deaths here are the people in charge, and to a lesser extent the ones that got themselves killed." She put a comforting hand on the shorter girl's shoulder. "None of us can or should be blamed, let alone blame ourselves, alright?"

Sabi's gaze switched between the American and the floor for several moments, before she focused on Clarisse and allowed a tiny smile to reach the corners of her face. "... o-Okay. Thanks. I-I think I needed to hear some of that, actually."

She nodded, smiling. "Glad to be of any help." Nodding towards the door, she led herself and Sabishī out of the room. "Now c'mon, if you don't know it yet, I can teach you a bit about checkers. Maybe share some more lighthearted bits of my life story on the way."

Sabi thought that sounded like fun.

3:59 P.M. Day Four

First Floor

Art Gallery

While Eric and Kelley had separately decided to go check the Art Gallery once more (mainly in the hopes of getting something coherent out of its Curator), they happened to arrive at the entrance at the sam time. They'd been somewhat surprised (though pleasantly so; they hadn't really gotten to get to know each other much yet), but had opted to speak with Mackenzie together.

Entering the gallery, the two found it unchanged from the last time they'd been there; still predominately filled with paintings of death, from people getting sawed apart to being drowned in molten wax. There were a few other art pieces around, but none as prominent as the paintings. However, as the pair of participants ventured further into the gallery, they noticed something off of one wall they'd somehow missed during the original tour.

As the cautiously approached it, they honestly weren't sure how they'd missed it before.

The statue was easily nine feet tall even when hunched forward, and seemed to be sculpted out of solid gray stone. It was humanoid shaped, right down to (huge) detailed musculature along the bare outstretched arms and chest. However, the legs were covered in (again, very detailed, like each piece had been designed personally) fur, ending in thick cloven hooves. The head had large bull-like horns on it, ending in needle-thin points (well, one did, the other was broken off halfway up). The face was both the oddest, and honestly the most disturbing: it looked like someone had taken a normal human's face and tried to mold it to look like a bovine's. The mouth and nostrils had been enlarged, with the entire lower half of the face having been extended forward like a snout. The eyes were sunken in and enlarged, with a deep scowl that, even now, was unsettling enough that Kelley found herself latching onto Eric's hand for comfort (honestly he'd been about to attempt the same).

Somehow, the most concerning thing was how young the face seemed; as though the creature was somehow around their age.

"What … is that?" Eric questioned, nervous as to the exact origin of this very lifelike statue.

"One of the last times we felt any actual hope."

Turning at the sudden sentence, they found Mackenzie standing behind them, staring up at the statue with an odd look on her face: one made of a mix of nostalgia, melancholy, and an odd bit of wistfulness. She was also clutching her bandaged-covered right arm rather tightly.

"This was something we faced in the last game." The Painter went on to explain. "Apparently, he was one of the failed experiments that got let loose upon the island; got turned into an 'Ultimate Minotaur' and lost his mind in the process. We encountered him a couple times while we traveled the island, just barely surviving against it. The final time, one of our friends managed to turn him into," she gestured up at the statue, "this." She chuckled. "For once, we allowed ourselves to really hope that those of us left might actually get off this damned island alive." Her smile slowly fell as she turned her her gaze to the current participants. "We realized the truth of things after Charlotte."

Before either of them could ask anymore, the Curator shook herself slightly, before letting go of her arm and refocusing her attention on the ones in front of her. "But enough about the past. What are you two doing here? Interested in my latest works?" She had an eager smile on her face with her last question.

Eric looked cautiously at Kelley, before taking the lead. "Uh, no, not really." He said (prompting an immediate loss of smile from the Painter). "We were actually hoping to talk to you, specifically."

"I'm afraid my ability to talk to current participants is rather limited as far as topics go." The European girl announced, turning her attention to some of the other art pieces in the room. "If you were hoping to get any 'information' out of me, I'm afraid I can't help you."

"There must be somethin' ya can do!" Kelley spoke up, pleading. "Ya've already been through somethin' like this b'fore, righ'? How could you jus' stand aside an' do nothin' while more people go through it?"

"With ease, actually." The Painter responded, looking back at the two. "Even if I really wanted to help, I'm quite certain I can't and am in no real position to." She shrugged. "That's just the facts, I'm afraid."

"Can ya at least tell us wha' happ'nd t' all the oth'r people that signed on for the AUP?" Kelley insisted, looking desperate. "Please, I - I had a friend sign up with me, I just want t'know if -" she stopped herself, unwilling to continue.

Mackenzie looked over the Banshee, a flicker of what seemed to be realization in her eyes for a second, before she spoke again. This time, her voice seemed softer somehow. "No, sorry. I don't know what happened to everyone that was experimented on, but if you haven't seen them yet in some manner," she shrugged, "you probably don't want to. Trust me on that, at least."

With that, she walked off, calling over her shoulder, "If either of you would like to see my renditions of the original Killing Game in Hope's Peak, just let me know; I'm really proud of them."

The Cryptozoologist and Banshee were left standing there, the Banshee in particular looking downcast over the lack of useful information. Eric looked over at the Irish girl, internally debating whether or not to question her further about the friend she mentioned, but seemed to decide against it for the moment.

"Well," he finally said, getting Kelley's attention, "You wanna find some of the others, maybe go play pool or something? Could be a welcome change of pace, or whatever."

"... Yeah. I tink I'd pref'r tha', 'onestly." The Irish girl responded, rubbing at the areas below her eyes.

Heading for the exit, both tried to put the Painter's words behind them for the moment.

4:35 P.M. Day Four

First Floor

Library

The prehistoric couple had gone to see if their subjects were addressed in the library. Upon entering, they found a certain sphinx-woman reading while sitting hunched forward on top of one of the tables, legs crossed in such a way as to ensure the leg was quite exposed by the skirt's slit. The image was somewhat ruined by the lionlike feet, but a nearby egyptologist was visibly working to not look in her direction from the other side of the room, so clearly someone was affected. She looked up from her book as the couple entered. "Ah, hello. Elle, can I talk to you for a moment?"

Exchanging a look with her boyfriend, Elle made her way forward. "Yeah, sure." She stopped if front of the Sphinx (John made his way to stand near Gary). "What did you want to talk about?"

"Oh, please, sit down, relax here." Teresa stated, gesturing to the table space next to her. Elle raised an eyebrow, but complied, sitting on the table next to the other girl and crossing her legs.

John approved.

"I was just curious about your time in the hedge maze." Teresa explained. "I was wondering if you could elaborate more on everything that went on in there."

"Oh," Elle couldn't say she'd been expecting that, "well, there's not much that I didn't bring up already the other day."

"I wouldn't mind a play-by-play, really." Teresa insisted.

The Paleontologist was a bit weirded out by the Sphinx's insistence, but didn't see any harm in sharing more. "w-Well, if you insist: we went down a corridor directly across from the entrance, ran into the Gremlin twins, went through some rooms containing pumpkins and humanoid hedge statues, got told off by Shawn about his history, and found-" she hesitated for a second, considering the scythe in the hedge lion, "-the center of the maze. We wandered some more but found nothing else of any real note, surprisingly."

"Hmmmm," Teresa hummed. "And what was that about Shawn's history?"

Now Elle was starting to get concerned. "I - I probably shouldn't say. Private stuff and all."

"It'll be fine, I won't tell." Teresa insisted, fingernails drumming over the table.

Elle looked searchingly over the Sphinx, particularly at the rhythmic drumming of her lethally-sharp nails. Does she even know how unsettling that looks now? She thought, hoping that she was just reading too much into the other girl's actions. I-I can't just share a bit of his life, can I? She wondered, trying to consider any and all options present. ... w-Well, it wasn't necessarily a secret. And others will probably find it out eventually. And I don't need to share everything. Eventually, she decided. "... Well, apparently he spent a lot of his life alone in a hospital room. That seems to be why he's so ... bad at interacting with people."

Teresa considered this. "Hmm. That makes sense, yeah." She stretched out her right wing, an audible pop from the joint. "Well, enough about that. What's your favorite dinosaur?"

The sudden topic change was enough to give her whiplash. Something told her she should really be concerned about that, but honestly she was actually thankful for the different discussion direction. "Honestly, it's a split between the Tyrannosaurus Rex or the Velociraptor - which, let me just say, was very inaccurately portrayed in Jurassic Park, no matter how good that film is. For one thing, that's not even close to what an actual velociraptor would look like, and furthermore -"

Teresa was starting to realize she'd just made a horrible mistake. Unfortunately, The Ultimate Paleontologist was on a roll now, and she had many strong feelings about her favorite childhood movie.

"- And don't even get me started on the frickin' Dilophosaurus. There is no evidence suggesting they had poisoned spit, much less frills! And about the sequels -"

Meanwhile, Gary and John continued to stand around somewhat awkwardly.

"... So, you like prehistoric plants, right?"

John nodded, keeping his eyes on Elle.

"... Right."

"..."

"- And that's not getting into the thing with the Pteranodons - and we'll just set aside for the moment that those aren't even dinosaurs - and the fact that -"

"... Does she tend to go on awhile when it comes to Jurassic Park's accuracy?"

John nodded much more vigorously.

"... Greeeeaaaaat."

They would all be there for some time.

7:21 P.M. Day Four

First Floor

Victoria's Bedroom

Sundown and the pain had come and gone, and the transformed girls were currently on the Mummy's bed, talking.

"And then they fell into the fish tank." Brooke concluded, to Victoria's amusement.

"Really?" Victoria giggled, "how could things spiral like that?"

"Hey, I still don't know, alright?" The gill-girl defended. "I just know what I saw."

"Fair enough, I suppose." The Mummy responded.

"So, that's why I stopped going to the aquarium. No matter how enjoyable it was."

"Yeah, I can see that."

They remained silent for a moment, before a look of curiosity came over Victoria's bandage-wrapped face. "So, if you don't mind my asking, what made you so interested in sea-life?"

Brooke hadn't expected such a question, but answered all the same. "Oh, well, honestly I've been interested in the topic for as long as I can remember. Can't really recall any specific point where my interest officially started, just that from an early age I always thought that fish and other sea-life were really interesting. I ended up focusing a lot on them in my spare time." She shrugged. "Only makes sense I'd want to make a career out of dealing with them."

"Hm. I suppose so, yeah."

"Any reason you wanted to know?" The Floridian asked, laying down on the bed while Victoria remained sitting at the end.

The other girl shrugged. "Just curious, is all."

"Well, sorry I couldn't entertain you with a wild and amazing story."

"Don't worry, every other Floridian out there has more than picked up the slack." She teased.

Brooke playfully threw a pillow at Victoria, who managed to dodge. It hit the lip of the table near the door, causing the lantern resting on it to fall off to the floor.

"WHOA!" Victoria cried out, throwing a hand out fruitlessly.

The bandages wrapped around her arm flung out, wrapping around the lantern before it hit the ground.

Time seemed to stop for a moment, as the girls processed what just happened. Slowly, Victoria moved her arm up. The bandages moved with her. Victoria paused again, before looking to the end and concentrating. Slowly, the bandages moving on their own, moving closer to their owner. Once they got close enough, Brooke (having moved back to the edge of the bed) gently reached out and grasped the lantern's handle.

"Huh. So, that's a thing, apparently." Brooke noted.

Victoria was, unsurprisingly, in shock. "I ... I wasn't aware this was 'a thing' at all." The bandages spasmed minutely, slipping off the lantern entirely.

"w-Well, see how well those work." Brooke suggested. "How good is your control of those ... bandage-tentacles?"

"I-I'll check." She concentrated, staring at the bandages. They quivered a bit, but whatever instinct had allowed her to catch and move the lantern was now absent. Eventually, the bandages just retracted to her arm completely.

"Well," Victoria huffed, the work having apparently drained her, "I guess I've got something to focus on now. Heh."

"Yeah." Brooke agreed. "I guess prehensile bandage-tentacles might come in handy somewhere down the line."

Deciding to try and table that development for the night, the pair continued talking about anything else that came to mind into the night.

8:59 P.M. Day Four

First Floor

Adrien's Bedroom

Adrien sat on his bed. It was odd to think only four days had passed since they'd woken up in this game. Well, four nights, to be exact, but the point still stood. Four days, three deaths, and a lot of exploration that didn't even cover everything there was to find. And none of them were any closer to escape than they had been at the start. That was certainly annoying. What he could really use, though, was-

Knock Knock

Someone was knocking at his door. Cautious, he stood and made his way over to it.

Opening the door, he found, to his surprise, Alexis standing in the doorway. Her left hand was resting near the top of the door frame, while the right was currently on her hip, the index finger rubbing back and forth on her belt. She was leaning forward, cleavage all but presented to him through the tight tank top (with the ruby of her necklace resting atop said asset), while the heel of her left still-booted foot was propped upon the toe of the right. Her eyes were trained on him, and a coy, almost flirtatious smile ran across her lips.

"Olá, Adrien, did I catch you at a bad time?" She asked, her propped-up foot starting to move forward and back.

Adrien, despite the time, the surprise, and the way their last meeting had gone, was able to actually put on a smile. "Not at all, Miss Alexis. What brings you here?"

"Honestly, I wanted to apologize for my outburst earlier," she said, starting to tap her right fingers upon her hip. "It was out of line, regardless of my feelings concerning …" she paused, looking off to the side for the right words(though her foot and fingers didn't cease in there movements). "… 'representations' of my field of interest."

"If anything I should be apologizing," he responded, "I should've realized that might upset you; it clearly hadn't been written with much accuracy involved."

"Well, all water under the bridge, as they say." While she said this, the balanced foot moved upwards, before she bent her leg back, foot in the air. She leaned forward further still. "Nonetheless, I was hoping there was someway I could make all that up to you." Her smirk was definitely flirtatious now. Her bent leg moved downward and forward, unbending, until the toe of the boot brushed against his pant leg.

"Oh," he asked, trying to remain calm and attentive while the foreign limb continued rubbing against his own(not that he had any issues with that, obviously). "And, uh, what exactly did you have in mind?"

"Mmmm, I'm sure you could guess. You seem a smart boy." She said teasingly, rubbing her leg up and down his as far as she could go without losing balance. She'd stopped the tapping at her waist, and was now running her index finger index finger along her belt, occasionally tapping her fingernail against the buckle.

"I'm sure I can," he responded, stepping closer to her(close enough that her knee could and did bump against the hand resting at his side), "but, in the interests of not getting anything mistaken", the booted half of the leg had seemingly settled on resting against the back of his own leg, while his hand was draped around the knee, "I'd like to here you say it." He had a smirk of his own now.

Her face adored with a sexy grin, Alexis slowly moved her left leg down his, letting every second and inch linger, before finally her foot came to rest on the ground. Stepping forward a bit (with the right foot this time), she moved in closer to Adrien, just shy of fully physical contact. At least, until she pressed forward, breasts coming to rest - and press up against - his chest. In spite of himself, he blushed a little(who was he kidding, that - alongside other things - had been building up for awhile now).

"Why settle for words? Actions speak louder."

Having the same thought, they leaned forward and locked lips.

Her right hand ran over his arm and back, feeling the muscles underneath the suit. His hands ran across as much of her body as he could reach, from chest to legs, before wrapping around her waist and pulling her closer still. He felt the pressure of a warm body pushed against his own waistline, while she actually raised an eyebrow at the sensation. That was actually a bit larger than expected, not that she'd complain.

While his traveled around her back half, she released the doorframe and moved forward, pushing them both into the room. A quick nudge from a foot later, and the door was shut. Reaching behind her, she locked to door.

Now they could have some real fun.

Collapsing down onto the bed (continuing to make out rather heatedly while doing so), her on top, they just enjoyed the other's presence for a moment while their tongues engaged in a fierce grappling match. Alexis started rocking back and forth, just slightly, enough for the friction to increase Adrien's own desires. Her hands traveled over his torso, taking in the muscles underneath, while his hands ran over her back and sides (her muscles were quite toned, actually). A hand grasped and caressed her thigh, pulling it closer as he took in the feel of her smooth skin. A low moan echoed from her, muffled by the tongue she was still pushing against.

Then her hand reached for his mask.

Immediately, he reached up and clasped her hand, stopping her from removing the mask. Realizing she seemed to hit a line, she stopped, looking him in the eyes in askance.

"Is there a problem, seu garoto tarado?"

"N-No, it's just," he trailed off, looking away from her. "The … under the mask, it …"

She tilted her head, eyes never leaving his face. "Do you think I'll be disgusted or afraid of what's hidden underneath? I'm not so shallow I assure you."

He kept his gaze averted. "… You say that, but …" He finally looked up at the Brazilian. "My face was just fine before the AUP. Seeing just how it got changed after getting this talent … it was far more than I'd ever expected, even knowing how things were in any source materials. It's … unsettling, to be honest."

He actually seemed concerned for her sake over his own. Honestly, she was a little touched.

" … Even so, I'd like to see it. Please."

"… if you insist."

Slowly, hesitantly, he removed the half-mask.

Even she couldn't stop her eyes from widening slightly at the sight before her. Bloated, discolored skin ran from forehead to chin, with scars and blemishes peppered throughout. From the cheek to the ear the flesh seemed as though it had been burned and improperly healed. His eye, previously obscured by the mask, was a pale, murky, bloodshot thing that he might not have even been able to see out of properly.

She couldn't say she didn't understand why he wanted this hidden.

"… Hmm." She said nothing more.

"… Pardon my skepticism, but I doubt that's your only response to this." The Opera Phantom deadpanned. The muscles under his face looked to be straining as he used them. How difficult had talking been for him up to now? "Even if you're not running for the hills, I doubt I look particularly desirable as I am now."

"Honestly, I think there are far worse things than having only half your face unappealing. If it's such a hang up for you," she lowered head to rest on his right shoulder, before whispering in his ear, "I can't see any issues from this angle, so why should either of us be bothered, hmmm?" She punctuated her statement by prodding his earlobe lightly with the tip of her tongue.

Shivering slightly (not unpleasantly), the boy whispered, "i-It's really no problem for you?"

In answer, she pressed a kiss to his unblemished cheek before shifting her waist slightly. "Does that," she shifted again, more overtly, "seem like," again, she felt him starting to react, "a problem to you," she very overtly shifted her whole torso on top of his, "seu idiota adorável?" She squeezed his waist with her legs, continuing her motions with more regularity.

Convinced she was actually telling the truth (and rapidly losing the ability for rational thought with what was occurring on top of him), Adrien decided to stop hesitating. Bucking his hips upward and firmly grasping her thighs, he allowed nature to take its course.

10:21 P.M. Day Four

Basement

Laboratory

"Is there any particular reason you decide to call a meeting now?" The Surgeon asked, irritated less by the lateness of the hour and more by the one to do the calling in the first place.

"Glad you asked, actually." The Alchemist responded cheerfully, ignoring the irritation of any of his 'co-workers'. He turned to his father. "It actually concerns the plan to release the first motive tomorrow."

The Biologist raised an eyebrow. "What of it?" he asked, curious where his son was going with this.

"Well, without giving too much away, I'd like to request that we hold off on releasing it, just for a day at least."

The Mastermind's expression remained unchanged. "And why would that be? Will it prove unneeded tomorrow?"

"Weeeeeeeeeeellllllll, that would be telling, but basically yes." The younger man admitted.

"Ok, what've you done now?" Syd asked, annoyed at the prospect of the annoying boy interfering with the experiment.

"Now what made you think I had anything to do with what's coming?" Kinsei asked innocently.

"Because this is you we're talking about here." The Surgeon snapped. "Don't think we've forgotten-"

"Enough." Jibo spoke up, before breaking into a brief coughing fit. After recovering, he announced his decision. "If whatever you have in the works bares fruit, then we will postpone the upcoming motive, for a time."

"Thanks Dad!" The Alchemist responded cheerfully. Syd just rolled his eyes at the whole thing.

"So, can we head back to bed now?" Shiro asked, sitting cuddled next to Mackenzie. Jibo waved them off, signaling the end of the meeting.

Hopefully, things would start moving along again tomorrow.

[13 participants remain]