Lia moved slowly towards the now open door, distracted and puzzled by the girl's parting message. She knew one thing for sure, and it was that she didn't trust anything the girl -who apparently was a goddess, according to what she'd said about the name of the sword- had given her.
She held the sword gingerly in her hands. She wanted to examine it more thoroughly, but needed to reach the hallways that actually had light first. In darkness, it was too hard to see even a meter in front of her, let soon examine a sword.
The corridor that lead to the chamber wasn't any better. The torches lining the walls gave off barely enough light to see anything. She needed the artificial lights of the rest of the place. Lia strolled silently through the torch light corridor.
But once she reached the door to the foyer she paused. It had just occurred to her, that there might be others in the foyer. Lia really didn't want any of them to see her exit this particular hall, and as for the weapon she carried... Well, one thing was certain, that would cause way to many unwanted questions.
So she waited, and listened carefully. She couldn't hear anything, so she chanced opening the door a crack. Thankfully, the foyer was deserted. She padded softly over to the door that led to the sleeping chambers, and hesitated. What if there were people in there instead? It wouldn't be quite as bad as seeing her exit the forbidden corridor, but still, she held a sword. Lia desperately needed a place to hide it.
She suddenly remember the small grey door hidden in the gym. The gym had been abandoned since they arrived, everyone preferring the movies and video games. Hopefully, it'd still be abandoned.
So instead of going to her bedroom, she headed down the hallway to the gym. She paused before passing the door to the arcade, which was open. Voices and the sounds of video games could be heard from within. It sounded like they were playing a shooting game, probably COD. She slipped past the door, and thankfully no one noticed.
The gym was indeed deserted, all the state of the art equipment lying unused. She hurried over to the far corner of the workout room, and pushed equipment out of the way of the door. Once she was certain there was no longer anything blocking it, she reached for the knob.
It was locked. Disappointed, Lia began to turn away. But she remembered one of the other presents the strange goddess had given her. Digging in her pockets, she felt the delicate silver of the -supposedly magic- key. Pulling it out, she compared it to the keyhole on the doorknob. She frowned, the keyhole was much, much larger than the key itself. But the goddess said it would unlock any door...
Gently, she touched the tip of the key to the doorknob. The key began to shimmer, and changed into a large, old fashioned silver key. Lia gaped at it. She inserted it and turned the knob. It worked perfectly. She stood for a moment before stepping through the door.
At first it was dark, but as she moved into the room, the lights flickered on. She tensed, but nothing happened. Examining the wall beside the door, she found that the lights had a motion sensor. Relieved, she decided that she was quite happy with normal, modern technology, rather than the unnatural magic and such.
When she finally looked around the room, she froze, gaping in awe. The whole room shone like perfectly polished metal, because, well, that's what it was. Nothing of the walls were visible, covered by racks and shelves of gleaming metal. She stepped closer, and realized the whole place was full of weapons. Not modern weapons, like guns, but older ones. There was everything from ornate little daggers to enormous battle axes.
She stepped up to a rack that held all curved swords similar to the one that now hung limply in her hand, almost forgotten. She recognized them as Japanese swords. "I think they're called katana... Or something like that," she said to herself, mostly unconcerned with the technical name of the weapon. To her, they were just swords.
The differences between her weapon and the others were very distinguished. The others were uniform, all had the same perfectly polished blade, and none had as ornate a handle as hers. They others were simple, and practical.
Her sword, however was made of a metal as black as obsidian. It had red jewels, about the size of a penny, adorning the guard. The hilt was wrapped in a material Lia believed to be silk, of a deep burgundy color.
Her sword seemed darker, more... malevolent than the others. The others felt normal, ordinary. Hers wasn't.
Lia examined the rest of the room. Each and every blade was kept razor sharp and gleaming. Everything looked new and untouched. Some of the weapons were taller than her. There were a few long poles with strange axes mounted on them that had to have been at least six feet tall. There were short poles with spiked balls attached to chains on the end. Some of the more cruel and vicious looking weapons gave her chills.
Strangely enough, in a far corner of the room was a shelf, empty except for one scabbard for a katana. It was made out of a very dark wood, and covered in dust. Lia was strangely curious, so she picked it up and blew off the dust. It rose in a thick cloud that made her cough for a good five minutes. Eyes watering, she compared it to her blade. It looked like it would fit, and the coloring matched that of the sword she carried, so on impulse, she slipped it inside. She wondered briefly why it had been lying abandoned in the back, but those thoughts were swallowed by joy. It fit perfectly! She laid it gently on the shelf, and left the room.
******
She'd almost made it back to her room without encountering anyone, but she heard her name being called from behind. She turned, a little annoyed a being bugged, but overall in a pleasant mood.
It was Bree, followed by Braeden. She waved frantically at Lia, walking hurriedly down the hall, beaming.
"It looks like your feeling better!" Bree exclaimed cheerfully. But her smile evaporated to be replaced by a look of confusion. "But where did your bruises go?"
Lia froze, then reached up to touch her face. It didn't feel like there were any marks left from her fight with everyone. It must have been from the strange girl she'd met. But she quickly covered up her shock with a nonchalant shrug.
"I guess I just heal very quickly," she replied.
Bree looked at her strangely, but didn't press any further. She shrugged, then continued walking, speaking quickly as she went.
"So anyway, we just had another meeting with everyone -sorry for not telling you by the way- and we finished dealing with stuff. We've assigned a schedule for chores, everyone will help out, thanks to your threat," she turned and smiled bemusedly at Lia.
"And we have events and stuff like movies and whatever. Plus some of the more athletic people want to do like a sports thing, where they make their own little teams to compete. Oh yeah, and we've determined set meal times, so we don't run out of food when people just eat constantly. The storage rooms, and kitchen will be locked at all times, and Braeden, you, and I have the only sets of keys."
She stopped again, and Lia almost ran into her. Bree dug in her pockets for a moment, before producing a ring with a few keys on it. She handed them to Lia.
"Aaaand, I think that's about all. Once again, sorry for not taking you to this meeting. We didn't think they'd take to well to your appearance after that last... episode."
Lia was still trying to process Bree's rapid burst of information. She looked up at her slowly and nodded, understanding.
"No, that was probably a good idea. I think... That maybe you should be the official leader. I'll just be an advisor, behind the scenes and such."
Bree looked at her questioningly, but Lia shook her head slightly, telling her not to question it. So Bree just shrugged and nodded.
"Sounds good." She continued walking down the hallway, then into their shared bedroom. "Coming?" She called before disappearing through the doorway.
Lia made to follow, but a hand on her shoulder stopped her. She tensed, and almost elbowed the person in the stomach, before she remembered that Braeden had been with Bree. She'd forgotten he was there.
She turned slowly, and met his gaze. It was strangely strong, and more than a little questioning.
"Don't you find that strange?" he asked her, gesturing to where there were no longer bruises and cuts on her face. She just shrugged and turned away.
He frowned angrily at her. "You know why, don't you? But since you won't tell me, I'll find out for myself." He stormed off.
"Good luck with that!" Lia called out, her good mood vanished. He just glared at her over his shoulder, never slowing his pace.
She turned and headed into her room. Bree sat on her bed, reading a novel she must have found somewhere. She barely glanced up, but registered that Lia was angry, and didn't say anything just went back to her book.
Lia stormed around the room for several minutes, before she plopped down on her bad and fell back against the pillows.
"Braeden?" Bree asked without even looking up.
"The obnoxious bastard," she growled. "As if it's any of his business what may or may not have happened to my face. And then he acts like he deserves to know."
"What did happen? I know those bruises didn't just vanish by themselves."
Lia just shot her a look that, if looks could kill, she'd be long gone. Bree didn't even react. Most people would cower when they were at the receiving end of that look. But Bree was used to it, so she continued reading and didn't press any further.
"I think you're overreacting though."
She glared halfheartedly at her. Lia was suddenly exhausted from the crazy events of the day. Too tired to retaliate, she slipped into a restless sleep.
~~~~~~~
A/N: So there's a map of the shelter off to the side, or at least what I think it would look like.
Merry Christmas!