[from
here]Even the main hall was deserted. S.T. switched on his flashlight and took a look around. Yeah, it was empty. No roadkill, no other patients. If he ever made it home, he was never bitching at any of the girls who didn't want to do night ops alone again. It was different when you knew there were things out there in the darkness.
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This area was just as crowded as usual, but Guy didn't see any sign of Anise even after he looked over the heads of some of the other patients in search of her. It was true that Anise could blend in simply because she was so small, but Guy was pretty certain that she hadn't made it yet. She was usually faster than this, so he hoped that everything was all right.
His mind was still mainly on the issue of Ilia, though, and as he paused and turned to Claude the concern was clear on his face. "You tried to explain to her that it wasn't worth the risk, right? I know that there's not too much that we can say, but..." Claude was her son. Even if Ilia didn't know that, she had to feel some sort of inherent attachment to him, right? If anyone should be able to convince her of something, it would be him, and if he'd failed...
Well, then Ilia might be about to walk into a death trap.
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He was pretty certain more groups had gone down there after their own horrible experiences, and yet Claude hadn't been able to adequately warn anyone. Even writing down notes did zero good.
"She does get that it's not worth it, I think, but..." As Claude spoke, part of him tried to keep a sharper eye out for Anise, but it was hard not to let himself get distracted when he was talking about his mother's safety. "The problem is that her group is made up of her and a couple of kids. She's afraid that if she backs out now, those children will head down there on their own anyway. It sounds like she feels obligated to see things through with them, especially now that they've got both the sword and shield ( ... )
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Claude apologized almost immediately, so Guy just nodded in reply to let him know that it was all right. Claude went onto explain, and it soon became clear that Ilia's hands were tied. If some younger patients had gotten the idea to head down there (and had even gotten both of the artifacts!), then what was she supposed to do?
"That's a pretty tough situation to be in, then." Just because those kids had been strong enough and smart enough to get through the first challenges didn't mean that they would be prepared for what the coliseum had to offer. Honestly, Guy couldn't imagine anyone being prepared for that regardless of age ( ... )
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Anise darted around the corner and into the main hallway, nearly running into the two men she was looking for. Her body jolted as she forced herself to a stop just inches away from from them, bounced back a few steps to get a better look, then grinned. It looked like she was the last one there, but it was good to see everyone made it, at least.
"Hey, you're already here! I didn't make you wait too long, did I?" She gave a little spin, showing off the dress and tabbard she was wearing. "Notice anything different?"
But it then registered, perhaps a few seconds too late, that the two were wearing serious, solemn-looking expressions. Anise's smile fell into a questioning look, and she cautiously asked, "Um... did something happen?" She didn't just interrupt something important, did she? Oops.
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While he could have explained to her what his mother was up to, Claude felt bad worrying Anise about it. From what he understood, they were friends anyway, so he'd probably just cause her a bunch of needless anxiety by rubbing Mom's dangerous plans in her face.
"It's nothing," he quickly answered with a brief grin. Once Claude took a moment to get a better look at her outfit, he did his best to widen his smile. "Oh, hey, look at that, though! Is that what you wore on Auldrant?"
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"That's true. If we can pave the way for everyone else and determine once and for all whether it's worth it, then it's probably still worth fighting for." Guy knew that they were taking a huge risk by still pushing forward despite so many signs that they shouldn't, but... Well, it wasn't like they'd done anything other than that back on Auldrant, right? He was pretty sure that Claude had accomplished some death-defying feats of his own on Expel, too ( ... )
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"Then it's decided!" Anise was back to grinning with her usual youthful enthusiasm as she produced her own bracelet, positioning it in front of her hand. She nodded eagerly at Guy's suggestion. It wouldn't be fair to hog the fun part to herself every time, though, so she looked to her friends with a playful expression. "Who wants to count this time?"
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Just like Anise and Guy, Claude didn't hesitate in pulling his own bracelet out of his pocket. "I'll do it," he promptly answered. There wasn't much sense in waffling over who counted down to the main event, after all. What mattered was that they reached that shore together.
"All right," he said once he was certain everyone was ready. "On 'three', then." Holding the bracelet steady in front of his hand, he licked his lips. "One...two...three!"
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