"Oh, so that wasn't some weird dream..." Sitting up from his bed, Deimo looked around at his new room, rubbing his eyes out of drowsiness.
"Once again, fantastic." He sarcastically muttered. Searching through his jacket pockets, the pianist pulled out a small journal.
"Atleast I still have this with me." Deimo chuckled, stuffing it back into his pocket.
"Now, what to do here first..." Henry thought to himself, geting out of bed.
Ice hadn't done much after the trial, basically getting to his room and unwrapping his chain before going to bed. All he wanted to do was shut down, not get anymore involved with what he had been feeling during the trial. Scenes continued to replay in his head along with other memories of Mercy, trying to figure out if there was any sign of her mental illness. After a while of tossing and turning, he had banged his head against the pillow and swore, not really trying to injure himself, but to knock the thoughts out of his brain. Thoughts of Alice's fight with Noel that would sure continue to escalate, thoughts of Felix dead on the floor, thoughts of Max's switch going off and... T-Thoughts of-
Ice stood up and started doing exercises, anything that his body would allow him to do. After a while of still being alone to his thoughts, he had left his room to go get some water. He started for the break room and found the group of infinites loitering around the elevators. New faces dotted throughout the group, but Ice only glanced over at them. Instead of going to the break room he went into the boy's bathroom instead and drank from the faucet, before throwing his head under the water too. Finally rid of any wayward thoughts, Ice had gone back to his room and gone to sleep with his hair still wet.
When the Blood Donor finally awoke, he came back to reality almost instantenously. His body had shaken itself out of a nightmare he couldn't remember, but he could still feel the pain it had brought him in his heart. Ice got up, combing his fingers through his hair, only to find it super unruly and out of place. Any other time he would have at least wet it down, but after last night's ordeal he refused. The Blood Donor grabbed at his handbook to look at the new infinites, but found he didn't have the motivation to go through with it.
He laid back down on the bed for a bit, having not yet heard the morning announcement. His eyes scanned the room that had long since been devoid of much of its original materials. All the halloween-like blood decorations had been thrown into a pile in the corner and suitcase contents was thrown about on his desk. Angry at his own poor management, he started to reorganize. After a few minutes of meandering the morning announcement finally came on. Ice grabbed at his handbook to finally look at the new infinites and set to scrolling through their profiles while sitting on his bed. The tiny Biologist reminded him a bit too much of Erin, making him flinch when his picture came up. The Horologist would be someone to look into later, but he only took a quick glance at her profile. The Infinite Gunslinger looked to be a bit of a handfull and someone to watch out for and-
Ice's breath caught, the face staring back up at him from the lit up screen looked familiar- yet not. As he scanned down the Infinite Pianist's profile, his eyes fell on his last name: Masson. Profanity after profanity slipped from Ice's haggard throat. He threw his handbook at the bed and slipped his good hand over his face. Why did he have to be here?!
Only a few minutes after, there was a banging at Deimo's door. Not something as simple as a friendly knock, but a loud hammering of someone desperate for the door to just stop existing.
"Henry!" "The hell?" Deimo nearly jumped when he heard someone knocking a bit more violently than usual at the door.
"Hold on a sec! Just quick trying to break the door down! Jesus..." He quickly opened the door and looked at the unfamiliar blood donor.
"Yes?" Ice took a long look to despairingly confirm his suspicions. Certain characteristics matched up well with Alice's and his overall short stature matched well too. Seeing as how he matched his picture in the Handbook's profile, this only but confirmed it. Hesitant to confirm the reality of the situation, he let out a breathless,
"Henry Masson, correct?" He was sweating through his bandages and his heart was racing far too much for his disease's liking. If he didn't calm down he might have to worry about passing out again.
Henry nodded.
"Yeah... Uh, are you okay there, dude?" He asked, taking note of Ice's nervousness.
"Come with me," Ice ordered while gripping onto the tie around his neck.
"It's... important." What would she think? Would she blame the messenger? This was too much right after Mercy had died. Ice didn't know if he could support her through all of this, but he would certainly try.
"...Um, okay?" Deimo nodded, walking out of his room. He didn't have any plans, but wasn't sure if he should let his guard down yet.
"Lead the way, I guess."
She didn't even bother sleeping.
After meeting up with Parker, Alice had retreated to her room, and didn't come out since. She stayed up all night, looking back to when her old friend was murdered and beyond that. Once morning had arrived, the recon was staring idly at the ceiling.
She sat up from her bed, hugging her legs close to her. Alice couldn't stop thinking about Monokuma's closing argument, and how she didn't know that Mercy was more prone to self-harm than her. It couldn't be just that. Her friend's schitzophrenia driving her to do such a grim deed just didn't seem right somehow.
Maybe it was cause of the recon herself? She had been a shitty friend to Mercy. Maybe if Alice didn't leave her alone, she could've stopped her. If she treated the infinite plague doctor better, maybe she could've talked her out of self-harm. And if she even had some way to see the future, like Faith thought, maybe none of that would ever happen, and the party Krista had planned wouldn't have been ruined.
Either way, Alice couldn't shake off the feeling that all of it was her fault. A frown appeared on her face, as she held back the urge to sob again. Taking some deep breaths to calm down, she decided to get out of her room and play some piano at the music plaza. It always helped her vent out her frustrations.
First the two of them headed down the stairs to the first floor before hearing the piano. When the notes started to play, Ice stopped for a second. If the strings had been dug out of the auditorium's piano, that meant there was only one place with a working piano.
"Sound familiar?" He breathed, not able to stop himself from making a wise guy remark. The Blood Donor started up the stairs again before ending up in the resort. When they started to pass by the Diner, he stopped and pointed.
"I'll be here if she needs me. Go get her, Boy Wonder." Deimo raised a brow, before walking over to the music plaza. Looking closer at the girl playing on the piano, his eyes widened in shock.
"Sis?" a grin appeared on the pianist's face, as he snuck up behind the recon, and waited till she was finished with the song.
She did feel a bit better after playing the piano, but Alice still felt guilt crawling on her back.
"Damn it." She sighed.
"What am I gonna do...?" "Wow, you've really improved from last time, Sis!" The recon quickly turned around to see her little brother, her eyes widening in supprise. The two stood in silence for a short moment, before Henry spoke up again.
"Uh, Alice? You oka- AHH!!" Before the pianist could finish his sentence, Alice had tackled him into a hug.
"Jesus, didn't think you've missed me that mu-" "Shut up." "Huh?" "Just- Shut up, you little shit..." the recon chuckled in relief. Noticing a hint of sadness in her voice, he returned the hug.
"Man, it's been awhile. You look like hell." The pianist remarked.
"Been through hell too many times, really." Alice chuckled again, before pulling away from the hug.
"So! Gonna introduce me to your friend here?" Henry nodded his head over to Ice.
Ice was trying his best to keep from intruding on their reunion. He was switching in between crossing his arms and uncrossing them while leaning against the far wall. A blush slipped over his cheeks, he didn't look like he was eavesdropping, did he? The poor guy internal fussing made him think he was coming off as creepy or awkward, when in reality it just looked like he was lost in thought.
"Oh, you met him before coming over here, didn't you?" Alice asked her brother, looking over to the blood donor.
"More like he lead me to you." Deimo shrugged.
"Huh. Hey, Ice, over here!" The recon waved over to her friend.
Trying to look at nonchalant as possible, Ice wiped at his brow and walked over.
"....Hi." He bowed his head a little, feeling a whole lot taller than the two of them. He wanted to hug the recon, but felt like it wasn't his place to intrude.
"I thought... well, I thought you'd want Boy Wonder here right away, since him being here can't be avoided." Henry raised a brow again at the nickname. Boy Wonder? Did he look like a robin to him? The pianist was pretty sure he wasn't a robin.
"Don't worry. Seeing Henry again is what I needed after..." Alice's smile faltered.
"Anyways, Henry, this is Ice. Ice, you already know baby bro."The recon properly introduced the two, earning a light punch on the arm from her brother.
"Nice to meet ya! I'm gonna assume that's a moniker you go by so..." Deimo crossed his arms in thought.
"Would you mind if I referred to you as...I dunno, Winter?" Moniker, huh. That was a great word that Ice would have to add to his everyday vocabulary.... He had been outshown by a kid.
"I would indeed mind-" He rubbed a hand on the back of his neck,
"Just because I won't remember to respond to it." He gave a sigh and sat down on the piano bench,
"I've already forgotten but, you taught Alice how to play piano, right?" "That's right." Deimo replied.
"Yet I'll never be as good as him- ow." Alice added, earning another punch on the arm.
Ice gave a small smile,
"Well, she's really good. And um, I've heard a bit about you." He didn't know what else to say so he just clasped his hands together between his legs.
"Oh really?" Henry looked back over to his sister.
"You've been talking about me?" "Uh, y-yeah, a little..." Alice averted her look in embarrassment.
"So what did she tell you?" The pianist looked back at Ice with a smirk.
For some reason, he didn't really like the smirk on his face considering it was at Alice's expense,
"I was told about how you guys broke your mother's antiquity cabinet. Also that your pooch one ripped apart one of your coats to keep ya out of the storm. Strong companionship that buckeroo must've had. Now my question is..." He dipped his head closer to Henry in a conspiratorial manner,
"What can you tell me about Alice that she's too embarrassed to say herself?" He let out the first real smile since he and the recon had played in the fountain, though it came off as rather devious.
"Oh yeah, I remember. Poor girl didn't want us to get drenched, but we had to leave either way. Had to buy a new coat after that, hahahah!" Henry laughed. The smirk on his face turned into a grin when Ice asked him about the recon.
"Hm, there isn't really much I know she's embarrassed about, aside the fact that she loved fairies when she was younger." The pianist shrugged.
"I mean, I can tell you about her old job, but it's not something embarrassing so..." "No, she can chat with me about that on her own time," his devious smile slipped into a normal one as he thought of Deimo's statement. Fairies, huh?
"The sparkly ruellas with wings? Mary used to have some of those, though my older sister always got mad at her for it. Something about religion or whatever..." His smile slipped as he remembered the gravity of the situation.
"Okay shats, so you just woke up here right? Did you come from another game, what's the last thing you remember?" "Wait, there are more of these?" Henry asked.
"Anyways, last I remember before arriving was being transfered to another hospital. Then I found myself stuck in an elevator." "I had a feeling that might happen..." Alice facepalmed. Oddly, she appeared worried when her brother mentioned her old job. Maybe it actually was embarrassing?
Setting aside Alice's actions, Ice's bore into Deimo's skull, he needed to get his point across,
"Do not even think about leaving your room between midnight and one. That time is called the night of Carnage and anyone could try to kill you. Always have your guard up okay?" He turned to look at Alice,
"Does he have any combat experience at all? We could have Calvin see about getting him a weapon for protection." "Y-Yes, sir!" Henry quickly nodded.
"Yeah, he taught me how to play piano, and I taught him self defense." Alice replied.
"Don't worry about getting him a weapon though, I'll give him my cutlass." The Blood Donor gave a sigh of relief,
"Wait, if you give him the cutlass, what are you going to use?" "I have a plan to get some more weapons." The recon explained, looking around to see if anyone was around to hear.
"I talked with Parker last night. She told me there's a weapons chest in the mastermind's old room. I just have to break in during the next night of carnage." She added, lowering her voice to a near whisper, but loud enough for Ice to hear. Yet Parker's warning still stuck with her. Alice had to ask herself, should she really be telling the blood donor about her plans?
"That sounds really stupid... But intriguing, I'm in." Ice was all on board with doing anything stupid to get out of here. The weapons that Calvin made were created with cheap metal and weren't exactly the greatest. If they could get a hold of real, specially made weapons, they would be golden.
"Excelent. She told me most of the weapon aren't effective against the carnage sisters, but we'll have to look for anything with her name on it, especially a Ka-bar combat knife." Alice told her friend.
"Wait, I just remembered. Max wanted us to meet him in Aladdin's Palace, think we should go?" Ice nodded,
"'Ight." He glanced over at the smaller boy,
"You'd better take a number kiddo, Max isn't tip top right now and I'd hate to see you splattered on the wall." He pointed over to the Diner,
"I bet Bliss'll be serving up some grub now." "Yeah, yeah, I know to avoid people when they're in a stabby mood." Henry reassured Ice.
"Glad to see you again, Sis. Really." The pianist gave the recon a warm smile, then walked into the diner.
"Uh, should I go grab my cutlass just incase, or...?" Alice spoke up with some concern.
Ice took a glance around and nodded,
"It's a killing game Alice, you never know when anyone will strike." After making sure she got the message, he scratched at the back of his neck,
"Do you think he'll be okay?" "Who? Henry?" Alice looked up at the blood donor, then over to the diner.
"Yeah. It may not seem like it, but he's strong. And even if he wasn't, I'm not letting anyone hurt him, or you." The recon explained.
"Okay, I'll be right back!" She then ran back to her room to grab her weapon.
A small smile slipped onto Ice's lips as he watched her go, even though he didn't like the idea of her fighting for him. Would they be able to properly protect Henry? He was such a small boy. Then again, Ice hadn't been that big when he first became a lackey for the mafia either. He moved over so that he sat facing the piano and tried to remember what he knew about the keys. He did a simple scale, then the Blood Donor played
this little song his younger sister had taught him, though only the right hand notes. He messed up a few times, but kept going anyway. Once he finished all he knew, he played it over again.
Sword in hand, Alice made her way back to the music plaza. When she saw Ice playing the piano, the recon slowed down her walking speed as she watched her friend, unaware of the smile on her face. Until she accidentally stumbled into the drums.
Ice's hands flew off the keys and he tried to get up so fast that the piano bench keeled over and Ice went along with it, almost face first. When he finally was able to rearrange himself onto his knees, he looked up,
"You solid?" A deep blush of embarrassment flooded his face.
"I'm okay!" The recon gave him a quick thumbs up, before sitting up and dusting herself off.
"Sorry for that, hahah..." Ice got up as quickly as he dared, not wanting to trip over himself again and walked over before reaching out a hand to help her up.
"I'd say pay more attention to your surroundings, but that would be rather hypocritical of me." "I probably deserve it though. Bumped into a wall too many times to count, but this is ridiculous." Alice chuckled, grabbing his hand.
He pulled her up and then fixed the drums so they all stood up right,
"Well um... ready to split?" Alice nodded.
"Right, let's go." 
Member
Majoraa
