Snippet #2377840

|Cethin Aurel|

Plip, plip, plip, plip…. Dripping water could be heard somewhere within the dark building, most likely from one of the broken pipes lining the ceiling like a maze. The area was eerily silent, except for the sound of hot air being released every so often, followed then by the loud rustling of chains in the background. Broken windows dotted the walls in random locations with black tattered curtains behind them to keep the light out in the training session, while other metal pipes protruded from the ground and were mostly caked with dirt and grime aside from some small areas that were covered from the elements and still somewhat clean. Some of them had lights that would flicker on and off in a slow, mesmerizing pace. Three shattered mirrors could also be located, one against the northern wall, another propped up against one of the metal pipes, and another simply lying on the ground. The glass shards from these three were also scattered about the room.

However, there was also a loud heartbeat that steadily responded to the eerie surroundings, beeping every second, almost as if someone was hooked up to the medical machinery found in the E.R.; probably because someone was. One of the new recruits had opted to assist in one of the more experienced adult’s training, and he had been hooked up to the machine to record his breathing and heartbeat rates in the ‘simulation’.

Plip, plip, plop, plop, plunk. Plip, plip…. For a few moments, the water’s steady beating suddenly shifted, hitting something other than the floor for those precious two seconds before resuming the free fall into its puddle. Sweat covered the recruit’s brow, his eyes wide and heartbeat picking up a few notches. Having spent at least twenty five minutes alone in the room with nothing but agonizing suspense and adrenaline, his senses had become adjusted to all of the sounds and the darkness, so he immediately noticed the difference in the water’s soft drumming. He swiftly turned his head to stare into the darkness of where the noise usually was, but he saw nothing. Another few ticks escalated in his breathing, before… Whoooshhh. The recruit jumped in coiled surprise, but it was only the air vent going off again. But, wait… where was the clinking of the chains?

Cethin shifted out from the hot, sticky air, placing a finger on the cleaner part of a nearby pipe running suspended in midair before suddenly disappearing once more. A crunch responded from under his boot as his weight settled on the shards of broken glass, a huge smirk spread across his face and his eyes wide with anticipation. He had to admit, it was pretty fun playing predator, especially when he got to increase his ability anyway. Swiftly crouching down, he stared at the reflective glass, watching as the recruit was just coming up to the mirror propped against the north wall. Seth portrayed himself on that mirror for exactly half a second before causing the image to shift violently to the right of the mirror in the other half of time before it was nowhere to be seen, quite effectively toying with the poor recruit once more. The sweet sound of the rapid beeping from the wires hooked up to display heartbeat made Z rather smug with himself.

’Enough play, I wanna see how well I did this round.’ He thought silently to himself before reaching into a different shard and climbing out of the mirror the recruit had passed moments before. Silent as he could, Seth snuck up behind the boy and in one swift motion pressed a knife to his throat. A shattering scream split from the boy’s throat, and Cethin recoiled from the loud noise. ”Woah, hey, relax, it’s just a rubber blade~” With an innocent tone, he held out the fake knife as the overhead lights flickered to life, signaling the end of the training.

The recruit’s right hand was pressed against his chest where his heart was. “Holy crap, man.” He breathed, his eyes wide but the beeping beginning to slow down. ”Well, let’s see how I did, shall we?” Sauntering over to where the machine itself was located, the recruit in tow, Ceth pulled the curtain back, revealing the screens and green lines and such. The boy stood beside him, watching with wonder at the screens. Shifting his eyes toward the boy, another smirk filled the assassin’s face before he turned back and wiped his wet hand on the boy’s shoulder. ”Increased shift time by a few seconds, definite marks on the psychological warfare.” He snickered, patting the boy on the back with some force.

“Where did you get this stuff, anyway?” The recruit grumbled, obviously embarrassed that he couldn’t take on the challenge. ”Stole it. But hey, hey, I’ll bring it back as soon as I’m done. It doesn’t take long to transfer items through mirrors.” He raised his hands in the air above his shoulders, defending himself. ”It’s a pain they don’t let me just have it.” An irritated frown flickered across his facials for a moment before disappearing. ”Anyway, you should run along now. And I hope you learned a very valuable lesson.” Z ruffled the boy’s hair, further demeaning him in that subtle way with a full grin on his face. “Yeah, yeah, don’t do any training with crazy Ceth.” The recruit placed his chin in his hand before turning to get the heck out of this place. ”What, no! Don’t tell your friends that! Otherwise I’ll never get anyone to train with me!” He had turned as the boy was leaving, his voice rather loud and playfully frantic while he had a pout on his lips. ”Pah.” Coal simply waved off the boy as he exited his training area, a content look to his face as he scanned over the results once more.

However, his form suddenly froze and his pupils widened as his mind seemed to slip and crash. Ceth winced physically as blinding light filled his mind’s eye. “Come on Coal, don’t be like that!” He looked up, the face before him completely unrecognizable as the light prevented him from making out anything other than a blurry silhouette. “Come on, please? Pretty please? You know you wanna get out of your grumpy pants and come p-“ With a harsh scowl, Z abruptly cut off the flashback. But his body gave him up as his form shivered with tensed pain and he coughed. ”Bloody….” ’That one was weak, pointless.’ He clenched his fists before turning away from the screen. ’Guess I just forgot that sometimes they’re delayed, if I’m even gonna have one anyway.’ He slammed his fist against one of the pipes, denting it in his anger. He shouldn’t have such memories, no one else did, so why him?

However, all was completely forgotten as a scream could be heard hurtling above his training building, and a bright smirk filled his features, knowing exactly what that meant. Trotting back to one of the glass shards, he slipped through and popped out a few meters behind Ruukia. His eyes scanned over her before he looked up at Luther and then bent over, one arm across his stomach while with the other he pointed at his open mouth and fake gagged. With that shiny outfit of hers, Seth was very, very thankful he didn’t accidently alter his course and pop out like right on top of her.

Without a moment to lose, he shifted onto one of the clear lines that bordered a few of the training areas. ’Ah Èclos, such an easy place to get around in.’ And he reappeared closer to Luth just as Ruukia taunted him. "Goodness me... somebody had a little temper tantrum, hm?" Ceth shoved his hands into his pockets and lazily walked over to Luther, clicking his tongue in Ruukia’s general direction. “Some people just don’t learn even when a hurtling body comes screaming over them.” He spoke breezily at Ruukia, leaning towards Luther and about to rest his elbow on the man’s shoulder before immediately changing his mind with a good-natured look. He then danced away from Luther, subtly worried that the man would explode once more. Obviously he couldn’t really get out of his range, but he was closer to something reflective so he’d have an escape route if things turned violent. Seth was feeling very plummet-free today, and would rather prefer to stay on the nice, safe ground to begin with.