Expedition to Autunno Keep [PLOT] Day 2 - Nightmare (MATURE CONTENT)

A weapon with a soul?! Yin thought. His mind reeled, That shouldn't be possible! Only living things should be able to have an aura! The presence made itself known again, as if it was telling Yin that it was most certainly...alive. He shivered again at the thought.

He redirected his attention to the large half-man. He found that it was increasingly difficult to focus, as the evil aura was permeating his every thought. Focus! He forced his mind to focus on the task at hand. "Alright," He said slowly, "So how do we kill it?"

'No Melissa! You can't be questioning your beliefs now, when we're surrounded by Grimm and in deep trouble! Gotta stay strong, since everyone else is suffering from nightmares!'

"I-I'm fine, haha! No need to worry about me! Just a little umm.., just had a short headache, I'm fine now!" She attempted to fake a happy attitude, smile and laugh, but it didn't end up to be overly convincing.

Kirkka stands straight after introducing herself, hearing the conversation between Leonius, Isabelle, and Yin. Guess it doesn't need to be kept a secret, then. She quietly speaks, not quite looking at Nigrum. "I am glad you are well. Please excuse me."

She heads for Bell's... 'office'. The door is closed, so she lightly knocks on it three times, waiting for a response. Let's see what information can be gained from these archeologists. I wonder if they've had such issues as these the whole time, or if this was the first event. Certainly they'd have warned us if the former was the case, I suppose.

She looked up at Yin when as spoke.  "Do you really think trying to kill it is a good idea?  I don't exactly know what it is, but apparently it's pretty powerful if it caused this."  Isabelle didn't doubt that it would be possible to destroy it, but she worried of what kind of consequences could follow.  The nightmare she had to deal with wasn't exactly pleasant, and she didn't want to have to repeat something like that.

Within the office, there is some shuffling and mumbling, followed by Bell shouting "Come in!"

Heinrich could barely be heard. "Why do you tell them that!?"

"Oh, you big baby," Bell says entirely too loudly, even more loudly as soft, barefoot steps approach the door. "Whoever's on the other side of that door has more than likely seen one just like it."

As the door swings open, Bell stands in the doorway, her hair messed up, her glasses missing, and an oversized shirt covering her body. She is more clothed than Heinrich, who stands in the corner with an over-sized book in his hands, covering himself.

"Kirkka, right!?" Bell is entirely too cheery, smiling. "What can I do for you?"

"She can GO AWAY," comes the roar from Heinrich.

"Oh, you big baby. Put your pants on if you're so bothered." The blonde researcher steps out, closing the door behind her as she sighs and shakes her head. "Honestly. Anyway, what's up? How did you sleep?"


Leonius sighed, shaking his head. "I do not know... if we would even be able to... Perhaps breaking the dagger... perhaps some unbinding... There are people in my homeland... who could figure it out... but every aura weapon is by its nature... and creation, unique..."

He looked at Isabelle, stopping his stroking of her back a moment.

"... If nothing else... I am formulating a strategy... to possibly handle this nightmare problem..."

Yin looked down at the girl that was with the half-man, noticing a pair of cat-like ears on her head, "Well," He said, "The way I see it, we did nothing to provoke it and it basically attacked everyone. Leaving it alone with most likely result in more of the same, and I wouldn't doubt that we go insane after a while. We could leave, that is, if the way out wasn't blocked by an army of Grimm." He paused for a moment and took a breath, "I wouldn't be surprised if the Grimm outside, the dagger, and the dreams are all connected. We really don't have another course of action right now." He finished, clenching his fists as he said it, We're helpless. He thought.

He looked up as the cyborg spoke, "Why don't you share your ideas? We're all in this together, whether we like it or not. Everyone here," He gestured around the room, "Has something they can contribute."

Isabelle was a bit disappointed when Leo stopped.  She squirmed a bit, as if trying to tell him to continue.  After Yin finished speaking, she realized he had a point.  For now, they were basically stuck in here, and they would have to sleep again eventually.  "I'm not too familiar with the subject of aura anyway, so all I can recommend is that nobody tries going back to sleep until that weapon is destroyed or dealt with."

Kirkka sighs, averting her eyes as a loud, large, improperly clothed polar bear yells at her. That's lovely. It appears that its not just Beacon students that can't control themselves... Stepping out of the doorway as Bell exits, she takes a deep breath, purging her mind of such images and thoughts. "Well, I can't say I slept great. We all appear to have had a nightmare... particularly disturbing as well. We seem to think it was caused by some kind of.. Aura based weapon. Have you heard of such a thing? Aside from that, I wondered what the plan is for our group... since our ride seems to have been dismantled by Grimm. Do you have another means of transport?"

As Isabelle squirmed in his lap, Leonius chuckled. "... You don't want me... to stop?" A mischievous tone crept into his voice. "... But what if there is another... accident?"

Starting to rub Isabelle's back again, he sighed, taking the conversation somewhere much more serious.

"Aura weapons... are innately anathema... to the Grimm... The idea that they may be connected... is a horrifying concept... Being self-aware... there is also the issue... of its attempts to defend itself..." He looked at Isabelle as his hand went low again, but not TOO low. "... I do not suggest... avoiding sleep completely... The human body requires sleep to function properly... and you do not want to endure... the cocktail of chemicals... that can remove that necessity..." He looked down, sighing.


The woman frowned at the mention of the nightmares, and she looked aside at the mention of the aura weapon. It wasn't until Kirkka mentioned the plan that she smiled again. "No... No... But Jim is working on contacting someone for an early extraction," Bell said, stretching. "... And the plan was to have an airship come back for you in three days anyway. Those people would have left."

She peeked inside the office, throwing the door open once she saw Heinrich had pants. He merely glared at her.

"As for what do to..." Bell shrugged, stepping inside and retrieving underwear. "... Continue as planned. The Grimm have thinned out, and we have Heinrich, a Beacon Graduate, and several students. We'll be fine." Bell smiled softly. "You are... after all... a Beacon graduate. Aren't you Kirkka?"

Yin frowned and rubbed his temples, "So are we supposed to be fighting this thing or using it against the Grimm horde out there?" He asked, aggravated at the mystery they faced. "Or do we have to kindly tell it that we aren't going to hurt it?" He wondered aloud.

Frag, this thing it making it difficult to even bloody think. I gotta find a way to shut it out. He ran his hand through his hair, trying to shake the splitting headache that was plaguing him. I find it hard to believe that this thing is benevolent in any way, shape, or form, though.

As Bell begins opening the door, Kirkka's eyes change their focus to the wall. Please be dressed, giant polar bear man. Please. Eventually she can see that he is indeed wearing pants, thankfully. She steps closer to the door to continue their discussion.


Kirkka expresses slight confusion at Bell's words. Beacon Graduate? And she knows my name? I wonder how that is when I haven't introduced myself. Did someone send information on us ahead? Seems unlikely... "You make it sound like a Beacon graduate, or even just students of the Academy are invulnerable. We certainly wouldn't be able to handle such a force like that of last night on our own... even if everyone here was as skilled as... Heinrich there." Her gaze darts toward him as she speaks his name, knowing that he'll likely have something to say on that matter. "I don't recall seeing a field trip planned for some students that involved dying horrible, painful deaths while suffering from nightmares of the worst sort."

Kirkka, I'll have to remember that Nigrum thought. He caught some of the conversation going on from Leo and someone else ignoring Kirkka for a moment before she turned and walked away.

"I'm Nigrum by the way" He called after her unsure if she had heard or not. He sighed and continued to listen stand there like an idiot listening to Leo and the teens conversation, before deciding he should properly join in actually.

"Why don't we just find the weapon that caused these nightmares and then figure out what to do with it?" Nigrum asked walking over to the group noticing the small girl as well whom had been hidden by Leo from his earlier angle. "I mean, we can't really do much about it if we don't know where it is."

Frowning at Chiu's response, Viola really wonders what happened to make the girl in front of her so depressed. "Why exactly do you think you don't deserve any of that? I don't know you very well, sure, but you still seem to be a better person than almost anyone here. Better than myself, at least."

Isabelle simply rolled her eyes and looked away in attempt to hide her embarrassment.  She noticed Nigrum approaching and listened to him before nodding in agreement.  "Maybe if we find out which of us is the most aura-sensitive, that person could possibly track it down."

Looking at her weirdly, she would look her over for any injuries. Seeing she has none, she would place a hand on her head and rub it gently, before trying to distort the facts to see what her reply is, "So it's just a migraine? That must hurt a lot. Need any painkillers?"

"Nonono it's gone now, don't worry! I'm fine! Still want that massage?" Melissa asked, jumping back to her feet.

'Do I really deserve to be her friend? To even touch her? Should I back off before I get too attached? The longer I wait, the more it'll hurt... But even them, I can't bring myself to trust... No matter how much I want to...'

Getting up with her, she would try to smile back at her, but it would only reach one side of her lips. Still evidently concerned she would give her a quick kiss on the forehead as if she was her child, saying, "It's up to you if you want to resume the massage, I don't mind as long as you are fine with it."

"I-Umm-Err-Ahh..." Melissa stammered, trying to make up her mind but failing, two different ideals fighting for power in her head, "Oh no! Pervert!" She shouted, pointing behind Aoife and then running off to hide in the food storeroom to get more candy.

Looking behind her, she would raise an eyebrow before looking back to see Melissa had vanished. Frowning slightly at her disappearance, she would sigh and walk back to the showers and her clothing, deciding to get dressed before any more shenanigans occur to her, "Wonder what that was about..."

Aphelion stretched himself on the ledge, waiting for the girls to return. When Aoife came back, he asked casually, "Girlfriend troubles?"

Just about to get dressed before she hears his voice, she would spin to look at him, "H-How long have you been there!?" Quickly followed by blushing due to the prospect of him seeing her and Melissa.

"I just came in." lied Aphelion, "Heard someone call for a pervert."

He swung down like a bat, looking at Aoife upside-down, "So... Girlfriend troubles?"

"Number one she is not my girlfriend. Number two, I am not too sure, she suddenly ran out of the room talked for like two seconds then ran off again." Rubbing the back of her head, she would shrug and grab her clothing, placing the top on over the towel.

"Nonsensical. If you're girls and you're friends you're girlfriends right?" he asked, "And maybe something happened to her that suddenly made her act random." he added, eyeing Aoife carefully.

Yin nodded as the boy spoke, "That's true, although it wouldn't kill to have some sort of plan for when we find it." He said. He then turned his attention to the girl as she chimed in again. "Well, I can definitely feel its presence. I'm not sure if I'd be able to pinpoint it exactly, but I can try." He replied.

Although that means that I can't shut it out. He thought, slightly worried at the idea of having to focus on the malign power inside the keep.

"Like what exactly? She is not exactly one to be random like this." Saying with a completely serious tone despite her words, she would then sit down and not allow him a look, slipping her underwear on while wearing the towel and top, "So, why exactly would she be like this now?"

Aphelion momentarily stopped with his usual carefree voice as his tone also went more serious, "Do you know what can change the nature of a person?" he asked, not giving her time to answer, "Torment." he thought back to his nightmare and closed his eyes, letting the tears slide down his forehead, "When you think or do something which you'd never expect from yourself, it will torment you. The injuries of the mind are more devastating than those of flesh."