Aveline Mason's Story

Outside of Leisure Room 2
1100-1105

Aveline was speechless. Her mouth fell open in a small 'O'. Her muscles tensed in the natural 'flight or fight' response. Which option to choose though was the question. Flight would likely result in various medical injections to knock her out. Fighting would do the same and would also add some bruises. At worst, broken bones. As much as she would love to show the horrible boy who was really unwanted, she also preferred to be well, alive.

All she could do was glare at him. "I don't give an elf's ear about your brother," she snarled at him. "Xavier's been dead since the day he was conceived. You get used to it after awhile. You suck it up and figure out that dead doesn't always mean gone. Because I sure as heck still have a demon twin. You learn to deal with life and not be some soft shell of a human. You lose your mind. And once your mind goes-" She paused as Sarah began speaking to her, but then decided she didn't care. "-you're nothing," she whispered, closing her hands into fists and then releasing them as a child would when describing an explosion. "You deserve to be here as much as I do."

The short girl turned and looked at Sarah, trying to save the boys from the situation. "You're such a saint," Aveline said without thinking. "You think you can save the sinners? Are you Jesus? Should I hang you on a cross? Can you save Xavier? Can you get us out of here with your other worldly powers?" She peered up at Sarah, unable to stop herself from speaking further. "Are you a magically being? Do you control everything like a god? Or should I say goddess? Unless there's something you haven't told us. In which case, that would make you a monk instead of a nun. Still a saint though."

She grinned then, backing away from Sarah and the others, looking wearily at all of them. Sam was no threat. Jack could crush her and Matt would likely help him. Sarah would probably throw a crucifix at her and some holy water. Ha! Like that would work. The crucifix might hurt depending on what it was made of and its size.

"It's not my fault for how you all react. That's your problem," she informed them confidently.


Intensive Treatment
1020

Xavier watched the butterfly, hypnotized by it. He was losing himself in the doctor's words, in the beautiful shimmer of the bell jar and the butterfly. He wasn't hearing what she was saying anymore even. It was a basic process, she spoke and he listened. Everything was lost to him. He'd forgotten of his delicious snack, that he was somewhere unknown to him, and that he was strapped to a wheelchair.

He wasn't sure of what he thought, and he wondered if Dr. Solaris sensed that. Just like his sister would be in less than an hour, he was speechless.

Then he heard the words of the Bible and he cringed. The words burned his eardrums and bounced around in his head like an echo. Xavier shook his head and leaned back in the chair. He looked at his restraints, then at the doctor. "Though I am thoroughly enjoying this time we've had, I can't say I like this wheelchair very much. May I leave now?"

Leisure Room 2
1113-1119

Aveline pouted and crossed her arms over her chest, letting Jack yell at her. He was like an angry bull, all she had do was hold a red flag in front of him and he would charge at her. “I can’t imagine that you- you have no idea what it’s even like to care about someone you twisted monster! If I deserve to be here- obviously I- I hate you!” She was a bit confused as to what he was trying to say, but she clearly understood that he hated her now. Did everybody hate her like this? She knew Sarah was annoyed with her and probably Matt too.

She was hesitant to turn her back on them and leave. Where would she even go to? She had killed Trephan and it sounded like Xavier was probably locked up somewhere. Her room was no fun and something told her wandering off alone would get her into trouble. She listened as Sarah spoke words of nonsense. No idiot would try to follow unicorns up a mountain or say things backwards! A statement was meant to be said forward, clearly to its intended receiver.

The tiny girl looked around, eyes wide open. Matt had moved in to comfort Jack as well in his pathetic state of mind. That left only three people to attack- Sam, Keiko, and the nurse, Lauren. She wasn't sure about Keiko, knowing that she could attack her without warning. Lauren could as well and being in such close proximate meant that they could both tackle her and stab her with needles. Ouch. Her head stayed still, but her eyes slowly looked to the side, focusing on Sam. He was the perfect person to kill. If she could kill the doctor, she could kill this lowly nurse.

But there would most certainly be consequences to this. Killing another person would mean solitary confinement, legal charges, and more medications. Ew, she didn't want funny tasting pills! But nevertheless, she had a little voice in the back of her head telling her to attack him, choke him, beat the crap out of his body and leave him as a bloody pulp on the floor. She giggled a bit and started walking towards Sam, who was still in the doorway of the second Leisure Room. "Sa-am! I want to pla-aay!" she half sang, half spoke in a high pitched voice. She giggled again as she stood next to him.

She was still smaller than him, but maybe she would get lucky. Aveline looked at Lauren and Keiko, then the trio on the floor. "What's in here?" she asked, stepping into the room and looking around as if she really cared. She looked at the back of the door, but was displeased to find that the knob did not lock from the inside. Oh well.

She grabbed Sam and dragged him into the room before shutting the door. Strength would be an issue here if the others reacted soon enough. She looked at Sam, taking advantage of the element of surprise and being unpredictable. Aveline lunged at him, struggling to get her hands around his neck and shove him against the door.

Intensive Treatment
1030

Xavier found himself lost for words. Again. If what Dr. Solaris, or Icarus rather, said was true, then he had been free the whole time. It was true, his mind was his own enemy, the beliefs that had been hammered into his brain. Old habits died hard, but that wasn't to say that couldn't be killed. Everything dies, rots away and falls to the ground to be eaten and forgotten. This was true as much as this ironic way of life. How had he not seen it before?

Icarus, the child of curiosity itself, was offering him help against himself. She offered leadership and beauty. She was something entirely unworldly, and as soon as he had been freed, he was trapped again. He could not say no, only rise from his wheelchair and looked at her. A simple nod was all he gave her, or so he thought.

If he'd been more careful, he'd have heard Devan and Tori outside a few minutes ago. He would realize what a danger this whole place was, as much as the residents and nurses inside of it.

Leisure Room 1
1120-1122

Aveline squirmed in Sam's hands. She hadn't expected him to be anywhere near this strong. Try as she might though, wiggling like a worm was doing nothing to help her in this situation. Unfortunately for her, it looked like obeying was the only way out of this. Or killing him if that was possible, even if the odds were stacked against her.

Then her eyes found Matt's. She flinched and tried to move away from him. Being eaten by a dog was not on her list of things to do. "Go away doggie!" Aveline yelled at him, still not fully aware that it was the sweet boy who had been trying to save Jack minutes ago. In her mind, he was a wild animal that could give her rabies and kill her slowly, like poison.

Ooh, did they have poisons here? What if she put some chemicals in a toilet and the doggie went to drink from it? Who would be laughing then?

The small girl looked at Sam, then Matt, and back to Sam. "I'm sorry I tried to kill you," she said to him, almost honestly. "But I didn't try to. I was only doing what the man was telling me too." Yes! Perfect! Aveline grinned, happy that she was so smart. If the Instigator (or rather Incinerator in her mind) said she could kill him, then he couldn't put up a fuss. Either that or the Instigator would take the blame. It did not occur to her though that both parties could be very upset with her for lying.

Intensive Treatment, Infirmary
1040

Xavier nodded, though completely unsure of how to go about this task. What exactly did Solaris want him to do? It would be irony to teach a blood thirsty fool a lesson through killing, and he was sure that the other boy would not appreciate him doing that.

Still conflicted and confused, but wanting to prove himself, X stepped out of the Intensive Treatment room and into the main section of the infirmary. He was surprised to find that there was not one, but two people here. One stood on a bed, the other below him like a servant coming to beg from the king. He clearly recognized the boy that Aveline had attacked a few hours ago. His appearance and entire manner were unforgettable.

What confused him even more than the doctor and her wish combined though was the man standing on the bed. It wasn't unusual for strange things to happen in an asylum. But something about Tori just through Xavier off. All he could do was look up at the man curiously, wondering just who he was.

Leisure Room 1
1030

Aveline pouted, glaring at Sam. To say she was unhappy would be an understatement. She wanted to throw a fit right now because she didn't have what she wanted. Sam was still here, looking at her with an intense gaze. But part of him was also seemed so calm and collected, like he was God and had total control over the situation. She wanted to make sure he knew that he didn't.

"What about all the little children that grow up with drugs in their back pockets and guns under their pillows? Do they deserve to live and do those who gave them life feel bad when they see them living like that?" she questioned him in reply, ignoring his demands to be quiet and calm.

Her thoughts shifted to Matt, who had somehow come to be lingering by the door. "Stop staring at me!" she yelled, trying to take a step around Sam towards him. "I don't like you!"

Infirmary
1043-1046

Xavier caught sight of the scalpel in Tori's hand at the same time as Devan. He looked at the shiny silver device. He remembered using one of these to cut open a frog sophomore year. He also remembered using it to try and pin a paper to the chalkboard.

The black haired boy looked at Devan. He wasn't sure what he or Icarus had done to this secret agent, but apparently he was now involved in whatever fight had been going on between Devan and Tori. Or rather, maybe this was a fight between just them. He turned in time to see the scalpel flying his way, but before he was able to catch it he had been tackled by the other boy. He twisted out from under Devan and looked around for his weapon, which had slid across the floor and was currently resting by Dr. Trephan's bed.

He rose to his feet and started to go for it. If his opponent were to have both of these sharp objects, Xavier wouldn't have much of a chance. Then again, perhaps he could use his imagery abilities to temporarily distract Devan. It wouldn't be too hard to conjure an image of a dying person.

Leisure Room 1 and 2
1035-1045

Aveline did as she was told, slowing her breathing and doing her best to clam herself down. Of course, calm for her was only possible when she was asleep and not in a state of REM. "Alright," she said, glancing at Matt to see if he had listened to Sam as well. If he didn't hold up his end of a bargain only she knew, she would not keep her promise. Besides, causing chaos was more fun than being a stick in the mud like Sarah.

Suddenly, Lauren called from the other room for Sam. The teal haired girl found herself following Matt and the male nurse into the next room, where Keiko, Sarah, Lauren, and Jack were. She looked at the two female patients, who both seemed to be paralyzed with fear.

She looked over at Jack, unable to tell that anything was wrong with him. If there weren't nurses starting to flock into the room, she would have just assumed he was having a nightmare. Aveline stood aside and let everybody else panic. Unworried, she busied herself with staring at the wall. She did not notice that the nurses had carried Jack out of the room and that some remained to escort them to their rooms.

“This is a universal announcement. All staff: all patients are to return to their rooms immediately. I repeat, all staff: all patients are to return to their rooms immediately. All patients are to return to their rooms immediately.”

At the sound of the announcement, the small, emotionally insecure girl turned and looked at the officials. "Do I have to go? Sam told me I could have ice cream." She pouted, crossing her tiny arms. "I'm not going to my room without ice cream," she told the nurse standing in front of her.

Infirmary
1047

Xavier had underestimated Devan. It seemed that he would have to test himself against the young man. He wasn't used to combat of any kind. It was usually just a distraction and an easy kill. The other boy had caught up to him much faster than he'd expected. So this was not only a game of brute strength, but also of speed. The young man was open to this challenge.

Devan had grabbed his hair and tried to push him. He didn't fall, but he was thrown off balance. The crazy haired boy's scalpel left a nice sized cut on his upper arm. Xavier was thankful that there hadn't been a machete in that drawer. He quite liked his arm. Looking around, he knew that Devan would get to the scalpel before he did. He looked around the room quickly for a makeshift weapon.

Main Hall
1045-1051

Aveline listened closely to the nurse, happy to hear that she could finally have what she wanted. "Yay! Let's go steal some food!" She grabbed Jenny's hand and dragged her out of the room, determined to get ice cream if it was the last thing she did. "Ooh, can we be ninjas! I always wanted to be a ninja, but not a turtle. I never understood that show, because turtles don't talk and everybody knows that. People are dumb." She actually had no idea where she was going, so she proceeded to drag her nurse around in small circles around the Main Hall before spotting Matt and hearing the magic words.

"Ice cream!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, leaving the pink haired nurse behind and going to Matt. She was intent on jumping on him and attacking him until he handed over the frozen goodness.

Infirmary
1048-1050

Two thoughts came to Xavier. The first was that Tori was very annoying and worthy of being eaten. Was he a grown man or a demented cheerleader? Xavier honestly wasn't sure what place this man had in any of this, other then the fact that he did belong in this asylum. However, he seemed to know a few things about Icarus, which made him curious.

The second thought was that Devan might just kill him. He watched as Tori tossed a tube into the pit and his opponent went to snatch it up. In response, Xavier took an empty drip stand, which he assumed would help him at least keep the other man away from his body. If he decided to throw the scalpels though, he could thank all of the games of dodge ball the gym teachers had made him play. But it didn't seem as though Devan would let go of his weapons so easily.

Xavier looked at Devan, trying to calculate his next move. At about this time, he heard his sister yelling. He sighed a bit, wondering if she was one of Tori's lost girls or not.

Main Hall
1052-1057

Aveline growled at the nurse who caught her. How dare he! "Noo! I want ice cream!" she whined. This terrible, terrible man was keeping her from her ice cream and more importantly from jumping on Matt. She started crying, hoping that he would let her have ice cream first. But it was to no avail, as the male nurse told her that Matt would be first. He was special wasn't he? He was the favourite! No fair!

She sat on the floor and refused to talk to this evil man. She glared at the floor, though it was incredibly boring. Why couldn't they walk on the ceiling? Maybe because then fans would hurt their legs. Hmm... that must be why.

The unstable girl breathed in slowly, hugging her knees to her chest. "I want ice cream," she mumbled, her hyper and anxious brain was beginning to calm down. The nurses would have less of a problem now, as she was losing energy from all of the morning's events. She could use a good nap. However, it seemed that Mr. Mean Nurse wanted to speak with her. This was why she hated school. Everybody told her what to do and how to act and it just wasn't kind. Maybe she wanted to do something different!

A small frown formed on her face. She looked up at the nurse. "What do you want?" she asked defensively.

Infirmary
1050

Xavier found Devan grabbing the drip stand. He quickly spun the long pole and yanked back, saving himself from being cut. His drab clothing looked like it could be from A Nightmare on Elm Street though. Well, if Freddy Krueger had only two claws instead of four. He looked at Devan and thrust the end of the drip stand at him, hoping that one of the five base points would hit him.

He hadn't noticed that Tori had disappeared as if by, dare he say, magic. If he had though, he would have been distracted and questioning just who Tori was.

Main Hall to Residential Hall
1100-1102

Aveline was too busy planning the nurse's downfall to notice anything out of the norm. Time was irrelevant to her unless it meant ice cream, ponies, or whatever else she could get out of people. Soon though, she found herself being forced from the room after a brief lecture from the nurse, without so much as a baby sized spoonful of ice cream. She struggled against him, but quickly gave up and went limp in his grasp. If she couldn't get herself out of this, he could at least carry her like a princess. Or a sacrifice of the human kind.

Infirmary
1053-1054

Xavier was happy to see that the drip stand had struck his opponent. However, his success was short lived. Before he knew it, the stand was being yanked forward and him with it. He was staring at the scalpels in the other boy's hands, which were coming increasingly closer to his face. He released his grip on the stand, but momentum had already pulled him too far forward to rebalanced himself. There was only one way to go- down.

The young man quickly tilted his head down into his chest and began to turn himself parallel to the stand and towards the ground in order to avoid being slashed again. He would quite like to keep his eyes and his beautiful face.

Room 7
1106-1125

Aveline was set down in her room and locked in before she knew what had happened. She ran at the door a few times, trying to break it down. But being that she was 5'3" and a little over 110 lbs, there was little to no chance of her suddenly crashing through the door to sweet freedom. She wanted her ice cream still.

Discontent and feeling like she'd been stolen from, the small girl sat down on her bed and looked outside. Outside of course was not the outside, but rather the inside of something more. However, dear little Aveline did not and could not know this, as she was prone to only seeing things by what she wanted. Though it would be nice to get some fresh air, the view from her window did not look very amusing. Grass and sky, what difference was it from everything else? Why couldn't this asylum be in the middle of the rainforest or at the top of Mt. Everest?

Sighing, she continued to gaze out the window. Occasionally her head would droop before snapping up again as she struggled against her body's plea for a quick nap. It would certainly help pass time quicker.

Tap, tap-tap, tap-tap-tap, tap, tap...

Aveline stood up, startled. The sound had been soothing and almost hypnotic before but now it was impossible for her to ignore or sleep with. Before she could say anything though a small voice began to speak a rhyme that was unfamiliar to her. It was catchy though and she found herself shaking her head to the tune. Soon the voice stopped and chuckled, causing her to stop and approach the wall she believed the noise was coming from.

She listened intently as the man who was an agent spoke, commenting that he never had any company. She knew how he felt- nobody really wanted to talk to her either and she too had an odd way of amusing herself. Maybe she had finally found a friend in this unforgiving place.

After the agent was done speaking, she knocked back on the wall, repeating his pattern. "Are you alone Mr. Agent?" Aveline asked, curious as to who this man was. "Do you want to play? I don't have anything to play with, but maybe you can help me find something." She smiled, hoping this lovely stranger would let her out of her room.

Infirmary
1056

Xavier had been able to avoid the majority of his opponent's attacks, but it seemed as though his luck was running out. Unbeknownst to him or Devan though was that this battle would end almost as soon as it had started. But for now, the future did not matter, only the present.

He had no way of knowing what Devan was doing, so it was no surprised when the two scalpels struck the left side of his lower back. He cringed and spun around on the floor, thrusting his left leg out in hopes of knocking Devan over. Not sure if he had succeeded, he scrambled up and immediately looked around the room, painting a different picture of the area in his mind. The pristine infirmary became what looked like a murder scene, featuring the body of Dr. Trephan. Blood coated him, his chest torn open with innards dangling precariously off of his bed. The rest of the room was less thrilling, with only blood splatters and a few organs to decorate the scene. Imagination sometimes had its limitations.

While beginning to create this scene, he began backing away from his foe and began to imprint the same image he was creating into Devan's mind. Given that the asylum dulled his powers, the colors were slightly off and the entire image could not be seen at once. There were normal spots right next to organs, flickering in and out of focus. Nevertheless, Xavier hoped that it would work in distracting the killer.

Room 7
1126

Aveline found herself staring at the ceiling before her attention was pulled back to the secret agent man. He wanted to play, but how could they do much if he was well, in the wall? She tucked some loose hair behind her ear and looked back at the wall. She wasn't sure if she was always alone. She believed that everybody liked her, even if they weren't very clear about it. But this man had a point and she could easily relate it to Xavier.

"Xavier eats people. I'm not supposed to tell people that, but I guess he ate somebody earlier so the horse is out of the barn." She giggled. "I like playing Princess, and playing Alice in Wonderland. I'm the Cheshire Cat." She grinned. "You can be Alice! Because Xavier is the King of Hearts. He's supposed to be a queen, but he's a he." She nodded happily and twirled around in a little circle.

"Ooh, and I like hide and seek! But there isn't anywhere to hide in this room... Do you have ice cream? I've never seen Star Wars but I hear it's good. Agent Tori Sith, come to the dark side is all I really know. Then they're like voom, voom, pow!" Aveline pretended to have a light saber in hand and swing it wildly around.

Infirmary
1058

Xavier grinned, knowing that he had found Devan's weakness. With him distracted, the half demon would have more time to plan his next move. Time was falling short however. Eleven o'clock for them was drawing near.

The other boy was slowly walking towards the body/corpse of the doctor, intrigued by the blood and guts. Remembering an incident from earlier, Devan had been particularly sensitive about his Adam's apple. Moving slowly, Xavier positioned himself near his enemy, then grabbed another drip stand near by. He picked it up and aimed directly at Devan's Adam's apple.

Room 7
1130

Aveline peered at the wall curiously, as stranger and stranger sounds began to creak within the walls. The very idea of them being hollow was somewhat of a shallow hope to becoming free. Not that she didn't love it here in the looney bin with pink haired nurses and ice cream (though she still had not received any). But a cage was always begging its prisoner to break free and scamper off, before being caught again.

Too bad she was busy playing a game she had no clue about. Improvising wasn't too hard though. She observed Tori the Magician as he began to twirl his magic wand around. How he had suddenly appeared was beyond her, but she was open to the idea that he was some sort of supernatural entity. He was obviously not a unicorn though, which she found to be slightly disappointing.

Looking around, Aveline didn't see much of anything useful for her to use as a make believe weapon. The room was exceedingly dull with little more than her bed and window. "I want a light saber too," she said, pouting. It wouldn't be an equal fight if she just had her hands. He could easily just start beating her with it as if she were a piñata.

"Are you magic?" the teal haired girl asked, suddenly curious. If he was, then who was to say that he couldn't be her personal genie?


Infirmary
1101

Xavier looked down at Devan, satisfied. He took this moment of weakness to place yhe drip stand's base carefully around Devan's body as a sort of restraint. Just as he had done so, the clock struck its mark and plunged the room into a tad more madness.

Sirens arose as the doors suddenly shut, leaving the two in an eerily red tinted room. It did not startle him, but rather confused him. Why was the fire alarm going off? Had he missed something?

Distracting and irritating as the shrill alarm might be, X was determined not to let Devan go. He had forgotten what the purpose of the fight really was, what Icarus was trying to do. Instead, it had become some sort of match between two young men with very different problems.

Keeping his grip and a foot firmly on the stand, Xavier looked expectantly at the closed doors. It wouldn't be long before an overly eager and attentive staff came to see what all the noise was about.

Room 7
1135

Aveline watched Tori, liking how creative and active he was. He was just like her wasn't he? Just a playful person trying to play a game- and always wanting to win. Winning was the best! Smiling, she was suddenly drawn in by the vivid pink in his eyes. Had they been like that before? So pretty and darling and feminine... Was Tori suddenly a girl? Confused, she stepped back as he made more references to Star Wars.

She looked at him cautiously before stepping towards him again at the mention of her dear brother and her friend the Instigator. Well, if this thing knew her brother and the man who gave her the sparkly hat, then he could be trusted. Resuming a confident stance, she continued to listen. The Jedi seemed to be their enemies, making Sarah, Jack, and Sam. They needed to be put in their place! No more ice cream for them!

"Wait, what about the others?" she asked, having that odd moment of common sense and remembering Matt and Devan. "But correcting the others sounds fun. No rules- I like that. With no rules we can win." Aveline smiled, enjoying the thought of showing those meanies who was boss. And having a giant laser that could slice people up. I can win.

Room 7
1144

Aveline bowed politely in response to Tori's bow, accepting the broom handle happily and whacking it against the wall to test it out.. She was getting used to this strange Tori character, who wasn't terribly unlike herself, though he did have more knowledge of the asylum and Star Wars than she did. She wasn't sure if he was lying about being an agent, because if he was why would he even be here? How extensive could this operation be? The full concept of a faux asylum had not quite reached the center of the small girl's brain.

Super agent or not, he continued to make allusions to the famous series which she hardly understood. Once he laid out their objective more clearly she set her lightsaber down on her bed and began to clap. "Take out Sarah, take out Sarah!" the poor insane girl cheered. Sarah had not treated her nicely, in fact none of these Jedi had. Tori would help her make them suffer and regret being so cruel. They were all human beings weren't they? They could break with enough beatings.

She retrieved the broom handle, trying to twirl it around but ultimately failing. "But if Xavier is Anakin, then how can Sarah be Anakin too?" she asked curiously, wondering if the handle could break the window in her door or that led 'outside'. Aveline also couldn't help but wonder what the traits were of the others, as she wanted to break all of them too. Devan actually scared her a bit- he wasn't very friendly and didn't seem to like her. Nobody ever liked her.

Infirmary
1105

The beautiful doctor appeared, shutting off the irritating lights and mindless noise. Xavier opened his mouth to thank her, but was cut off as she spoke, a notable disappointment hinted in her tone. However her facial expressions were hidden by a gas mask, which seemed to hold no purpose as of yet. He could only guess that she was about to gas them and lock them back in their rooms. However, something told him that was not on her agenda.

“And really, Devan, sometimes I wonder if you’re an animal or a man, with the way you carry on. What am I going to do with the pair of you?” Xavier chuckled a bit, picturing Devan and himself in a zoo, imprisoned just inches from each other but unable to touch each other. Who would win in that fight? He looked down at the wild boy, wondering what would possess him to become such a beast. He adjusted his grip on the drip stand a bit before turning back to Icarus, brow furrowed in minor confusion. "What would you like us to do then?" he asked, feeling a sense of failure.

Truth be told he had been unsure of how to go about this, as the two's confrontation had turned from a bizarre man to a death match. Xavier had essentially been fueled by the desire to please the doctor, but Devan had attacked him for the fun of it. The asylum was living up to its name for the time being.

Room 7
1145

Aveline somewhat followed his logic, but found that she always thought about herself in the end. So if Anakin was multiple people in one body, then did that mean she was too? She began to make a list in her head: daughter, friend, outcast, twin, sister, the Cheshire Cat, a wonderfully colorful person... It seemed as though a person was what their personality and relationships were, especially here in the asylum. Her head lolled to the side a bit as she continued thinking and Tori continued speaking.

“We might not even have to burn him to do it.”

She immediately focused her attention on the secret agent. "Why would I want to burn him?" she asked, so innocently oblivious to what he was referring to, to what kind of allusion of the future this could be. Whether it was literally burning him or just scarring him and turning him into the famous villain, she didn't want to hurt her brother. "We don't have to burn him, do we?" she asked, frowning. She pulled at a lose piece of hair, examining the unnatural light teal color before letting it drop to the floor. "I would rather not hurt him." Aveline had her mind set on it for now, but her opinion was as easily swayed as a weak sapling. The possibility of Tori controlling her was very strong, though she would never realize it.

Infirmary
1107-1112

Xavier shot Devan a look of annoyance as the other boy wiggled underneath the grip of the drip stand, threatening to knock it over. Honestly, there was no trouble in seeing why he was here- asylum or not. The dark haired boy looked up as the doctor started to speak again, musing to herself about the two before her. It was an interesting pair he had to admit. The two alone in a room with minimal damage was some sort of impressive.

Eyes flicking between Icarus and the madman on the floor, he listened to his mentor. Although disappointed that he'd done nothing outstanding, there was always a small pride in being alive and the self-declared victor of the match. Xavier was hesitant to let his adversary free so soon. While he was sure that Icarus was capable of taking care of herself, he was still weary of what Devan might do to either of them. Disembowelment did not seem terrible pleasant and seeing as he'd just eaten, who knew what was in his digestive tract at the moment?

Keeping his sight locked on the other boy, he released his grip on the drip stand and backed away towards the middle of the room so that he would have enough room if another fight broke out. He couldn't help but wonder if Icarus had a tranquilizer gun ready for both of them, hidden somewhere on her person. Assured that Devan would go down first, he stood rather confidently.

Room 7
1153

Her mouth remained in a frown, more confused now than before. What Tori told her made some sense, but at the same time she would never know exactly what he was trying to tell her through it. Don't make kids into adults before their time. Don't tangle judgements with hopes, or bad things will happen to you as well as he. Don't listen to idiots, especially ones who can't fathom who you are. It seemed more like he was giving her a set of rules, created long ago but never properly executed or taught. Aveline relaxed a bit, sitting on the ground like an obedient kindergartener. Tori continued on before pointing out what he had already made clear to her: they would make Xavier something new, then they would drive the good girl mad. Oh, what fun!

She looked up at her new friend and nodded. "I understand," she said, a smile dawning on her face. The idea of getting revenge on the goodie goodie was too tempting to resist. She was only human after all. "So how are we going to do this? I'm not familiar with this place but you seem to be. How long have you been here? I think one of the doctors said we've been here for weeks, but I don't think that's right. If I was here for that long, I would remember it wouldn't I?" Her focus had shifted again, curiosity overcoming her previous confusion. Afterall, there wasn't much she could do just sitting here on the floor.

Infirmary to Corridor 1
1120-1303

Xavier couldn't help but be surprised once the doctor began speaking of her family. She didn't strike him as very nurturing or one to be married, much less have a kid. But as she proceeded with brief descriptions of the two, he could see why she was pleased by them. They seemed to be immoral, as Icarus obviously like her prey. She continued on, speaking of the Devil (hmm, it really was quite cliche wasn't it?). It was unamusing to think how bland he really was, especially compared to wildcards such as Devan and his dear sister. He hardly had time to consider that the doctor had spoke of the Devil as a literal concept, when she'd told him that he was limited by a God who did not exist. He had already been sedated.

***

Groggy and disoriented, Xavier found himself laying down and tangled up in something. Above him was the same dull ceiling that had greeted him earlier in the morning. Just this morning? Time seemed almost impossibly slow here. It hadn't been even twelve hours and he'd lost track of his sister, eaten an orderly, spoke with a goddess, and fought with a monster. Hmm, maybe he should be in his own movie.

The thought made him chuckle, but he was then pulled back into his current situation. How much time had passed from when he'd been knocked out? He was not fond of the idea of some worker carting him back to his room, but it was out of his control. Struggling to sit up, he wondered if he was in a straight jacket. Oh wait, it was merely the sheets on the bed. He'd been told before that he was a very active sleeper.

Standing up, Xavier noticed that his door was unlocked. What was the point of putting him back in here if they were just going to let him out again? Walking to the open door cautiously, he peered out and saw another door open just down the hall, diagonal from his own. It was also then that he heard a female voice, which he recognized as Sarah's, calling for Matt. If he was correct, that was the one with the long hair. Why she was looking for him was beyond the half-demon, who personally didn't want to deal with any more people today. On the other hand, he hadn't been aware of somebody being in the room just down the first corridor of the residential wing. He was curious to see who was in there.

Proceeding down the hall quietly, Xavier peeked his head into room 1 to find an unfamiliar man sitting on the floor. He didn't look very pleased and almost reminded him of Aveline, who shared the same child-like qualities as this man seemed to have. Perhaps this truly was an asylum, and he was as mad as a hatter.

"I haven't seen you before," he commented to the man sitting on the floor, leaning against the doorway.

Room 7 to Residential Wing
1156-1307

Aveline was still captivated by this curious man, her new friend. Actually, come to think of it, she had two new friends and both of them seemed very friendly. One had given her a dazzling hat, and the other a promise at driving the others mad. Her green eyes opened wider as Tori mentioned secrets in the asylum, secrets that she very badly wanted to know. Curiosity killed the cat, but she was sure that the saying didn't apply to her life.

Tori reminded her again of their plan: drive them all mad. It really was Wonderland here, and she liked it. She herself was not entirely mad, nor was Tori, but the others were just too sane. They were too wrapped up in being just another, unlike them. They didn't know how to live. She would show them.

She squealed as Tori grabbed her suddenly, pulling her out of her thoughts and causing the grin that had been on her face to fade. He stepped away then, and told her that this must be kept a secret. Aveline nodded obediently, eager to begin and to hear of what he knew of this place and the people in it. But before she could ask another question, he suddenly disappeared. She was sure that she hadn't said anything, so maybe this was just one of his magic tricks again. Whatever the case, she was now still locked in her room with nothing to do.

Sitting back down on her bed, she wondered who the Instigator was. The name sounded very familiar to her, oh yes, he was the one who gave her this hat. She lifted her pale hand to touch the brim of it, but found that it was no longer there. Pouting, she made a mental note to make sure Jack hadn't taken it.

Jack? He'd hardly crossed her mind in the last hour or so. He was the one who wanted her hat- stupid boy. She briefly remembered the conflict she'd cause in the leisure rooms, before Jack had suddenly had a seizure or something of that sort. Huh, the day had gone by so fast. What kind of fun things would happen tomorrow?

***

An hour later, Aveline still found herself trapped in her room. She was running out of activities to keep her entertained. She'd already tried to imagine the toys she'd played with as a child being here, tried to play with them as she did when she was younger. However her imagination began to stray and the idea of toys became as nonexistent as they really were. There was nothing in the room she could use besides her bed and the sheets or mattress on it. She could pretend that she was on a boat, but boats typically didn't sail on a white ocean. She could talk to Xavier, but he wasn't here right now. Also, she wasn't special like him and couldn't do much besides cause trouble.

Bored, Aveline began hitting her head on the wall. It didn't hurt at all and was something for her to do. Eventually, she heard a soft click. Raising her head, she found that her door was open. She almost cried out, overjoyed to finally be free. Jumping to her feet, she quickly rushed out into the hall. She did not know that Sarah and Devan also resided in her corridor, as she quickly left and began to search the wing for the others. Where was the dog boy?

"Matt!" a voice pierced through the wing. Aveline winced because she knew it was Sarah. She wasn't sure if she should confront her on her own or not. What would Tori want her to do? If the point of their mission was to drive the others, Sarah in particular, to insanity, then maybe she should start right now. Yes, it was a very good idea to begin as soon as possible so that she could leave, or at least Tori would tell her more and be proud of her. It would be hard though, trying to convince Sarah of anything but her own opinion. She was stubborn, Aveline could see it because she herself didn't like doing as told. This was going to take a while.

Circling around the nurses station, she found Sarah in one of the hallways. Unsure of what to say, she merely stood there and watched her, noticing the curling shadows following behind her. Given how susceptible she was to the effect of others' abilities, the shadows appeared darker and longer to her. The twisted and curled, like a tangled mess of black seaweed. Mmm, she could go some for seaweed at the moment. Still unsure of what to say to Sarah, she decided to wait and see if the other girl had found Matt or for Sarah to notice her.

"... S... Sarah..?"

Sarah spun in place where she was on hearing her name. The relief she felt when she saw he was still around vanished when she saw the state he was in. Not normally a physical person, she reached him in two long strides and wrapped her arms around him in a brief hard hug.
“It’s all a game to them,” she whispered in his ear. “Whatever you saw, whatever they did, it was all to mess with you.” She released the younger boy and reached up to grip the sides of his head gently, looking him in the eye and willing him to believe her.
“We’re going to get through this, so long as we stay strong, ok?” She leaned back and watched him for a moment before smiling encouragingly. “Hey now, let’s go find Jack, ok? Everything’s a bit easier to deal with when you’re together, huh?” She turned around and looked down the hall, coming to an abrupt halt when she saw Aveline standing there. While there was a slight chance that the other girl wasn’t going to start screaming and try to jump on them; she wasn’t going to be the one to make the first move. Instead her shadows wrapped around their feet in a protective tangle. If crazy girl made any sort of move, they’d be ok.

Room 1
1306

The man looked up at him and grinned, much to Xavier's dismay. It reminded him of his sister and how she used to think she was the Cheshire Cat. She might even still think that- he wasn't sure. Perhaps even more concerning was that he seemed to know the basics of what had happened to him in particular since awakening in this unfamiliar place. That's when it clicked- he had seen this Tori with an eye before, right before his fight with Devan.

He listened to the so called 'secret agent', wondering what exactly he meant by him being Anakin and Icarus being Sidious. He knew it was a Star Wars reference; he wasn't born under a rock, but he'd never bothered to delve into that world much. As far as he was concerned, it was just a story with a many, many fans. It was the sci-fi/fantasy version of the Harry Potter series basically. He'd never bothered to read those books either.

"Just because you're a secret agent does not mean you know everything. As far as I know, you're no god or sacred deity," he told Tori, wondering if he was serious or if he was merely insane. "You can't be everywhere at once, nor can you be every being in the universe- living or not. I think you're confused Tori with an eye."

Residential Hall
1307

Maybe I should have thought this through. But now was no time for thinking, only for doing. Or should she think before she did? Or maybe she should do as she thinks she would do should she think that she would need to. Oh, now she had to decide and forget it! Sarah was giving her a death glare and Matt looked more pathetic than usual. Actually, he looked genuinely terrified. Maybe they had all lived a thousand lives without really knowing it. Did time even pass by in here?

Aveline grinned like the Cheshire Cat, because she was one you know. Besides, didn't people find it more comforting when others smiled? Maybe not right now, but they could learn to love her smile. Rather, they would learn to love her smile and everything else about her. She was going to be the queen with Tori's help. All she needed to do was destroy Sarah, change Xavier, not be dismembered by Devan, or attacked by anything else lurking in these halls. It seemed easy enough. Now where had she put her broomstick?

Ooh, she was a witch now! Her smile only widened and she chuckled a bit before being pulled back into reality. "Hello again," she sang, glancing at the shadows around their feet. It looked like a bird's nest, but an intimidating one at that. They seemed to be ready to attack her at any second and rip her to shreds. Her eyes widened a bit, anxious. The effects of her weak tolerance for the supernatural was not going to be much help now.

"Could you tell your friends to go away?" she asked, quieter than before. She looked back at Sarah, wondering what was swirling through her head and if she would really kill Aveline.

Sarah arched an eyebrow at Aveline. The shadows at her feet knotted themselves tighter and higher, coiling like snakes. She tightened her arm slightly around Matt's shoulders.
"I don't think so. They're part of me and I'm part of them. You can't make parts of yourself go away, can you?" There was no use talking in straight lines to this girl, but if she came at it round abouts, maybe she could talk some sense into her. Or scare her away. When in doubt, pretend to be the biggest predator. And actually, it wouldn't be pretend. So far all she had done was a bit of harmless reshaping. She could do so much more......

"I'll make you a deal, ok? You leave me and my friends alone and we'll leave you alone. This place is big enough for the all of us."

Room 1
1313

Xavier watched Tori closely, wondering what kind of drugs he'd stolen from the infirmary before he'd vanished. He speaking nonsense and soon was dancing around the room as if staying in one place would spell the end for him. He doubted that a sinkhole could form and swallow one so quickly and saw no reason for this man to be twirling and prancing about.

Tori began to talk again, about madness. It was ironic and absurd to have a conversation like this right now. He mentioned something hairs growing on your palms. It took a conscious effort for Xavier not to look at his own hands out of both curiosity and worry. He wasn't going mad, was he? No, of course not. He knew who he was, he sort of knew where he was, and he was quite confident in what he was.

His eyes narrowed as the secret agent mentioned the unruly boy he'd fought with before. He'd cut open a dog before, who hadn't? The half demon bit his tongue as Tori rambled on about being second best, tempted to tell him that he had rightfully won their duel and that Icarus was the reason it had ended almost as abruptly as it had begun. Furthermore, why should Xavier be bothered by what this man said? After all, his eyes were impossible albeit intriguing colors. Something was clearly off about him, but he wasn't quite sure what it was.

"Isn't that a quote from Einstein?" he asked as Tori mentioned repeating a process over and over again and expecting s different result. The example he had used of mental illness seemed fitting in this situation, given that Xavier was stuck talking to a lunatic in an aslyum that he didn't remember being checked into. Time was eluding him evermore. "I can't say I'm not a little bit mad, but you seem to be off the deep end," he told him bluntly. "This is an asylum after all. Doesn't the containment of those who are classified as mad define it?" He knew this meant that he'd called himself a hatter, but he knew that nobody was normal, not even in the slightest. He was being truthful to himself and to Tori; he was a bit of an extremity as it was, let alone completely sane. So what did that make him?

He frowned a bit as he looked back at Tori, wondering what exactly his intentions were here. Were they both mad? Or was Xavier simply surrounded by a sea of mad, mad people in an attempt to bend his mind to that of his peers? The questions themselves were irritating to him and he pushed them away.

Residential Hall
1309

The teal haired crazy shifted her weight, still uneasy about the looming thorns waiting to entangle her at her feet. She pursed her lips before looking up at Sarah again, not at all happy with her attitude or her proposal. "You couldn't cut off your arm," she stated casually, as if out having lunch with a friend. She pouted a bit, annoyed that nobody seemed to be her friend except for her brother, but she hadn't seen him since initially waking up. Oh well, she'd find him sooner or later.

"Define friend. Why aren't we friends? It's lonely without them and I don't want to be lonely in this place." She paused as Matt eyed her wearily. She really was terrible with people wasn't she? Aveline smiled again, but without any sort of intentions behind it. It was merely a muscle twitch because she knew not what to do. Glancing again at the swirling shadows she took a small step back, waiting for an answer.