[physical education 101]

[sevenhorrorsmods]

Who: transfer students
When: July 1̷̝̤̳̙̫̭̻̝͓̄̇̾̀̕͝9̸̙̱̹͍̮̈́́̀̅͛̐̔̋ 20
Where: the. . . gymnasium?
What: an ice breaker
Warnings: moderate physical injury (not debilitating), psychological horror (absolutely debilitating)

[The school is empty. The school is quiet. The only sound that cuts through the silence is the soft ticking of the hallway clocks that mark the passing of each second.]

[. . .]

[At least. . . until a stiff breeze whips through the classrooms, scattering dirty papers and jerking the curtains aside. The clock strikes 6:00 a.m.]

[The school bell chimes.]

[ Team rooms | Endgame | Rewards ]

Comments

[suplexer]

[ Tifa comes to kneel next to him. As he's one of the people who was sprawled on the floor out here, she has to assume whatever he experienced was... worse, somehow. ]

I guess it would have been strange if a school of this size was only catering to six people.

[ Not that they'd even known there was a whole school attached while trapped in those rooms. ]

How are you feeling?

[reapoman]

I've had worse.

[ He glances around, taking stock off all the colors of uniforms that he can see. ]

Seven groups, it looks like. If there's six in each, then that's a lot of people.

[suplexer]

[ Worse, huh? Well, same here.

He gets a sense of the number of groups pretty quickly, and Tifa nods. She'd counted the same, which means they probably haven't missed anyone. ]

But... why split us up like this?

[ Either way, now that she can see that he isn't debilitated in any way, she stands up and offers him a hand. ]

[reapoman]

Forty-two people are a lot to cram into one classroom.

[ He takes her hand to haul himself up. His skin is a little cold to the touch. ]

That aside, maybe the spirits here just like the fantasy of everyone divided neatly into classes.

[suplexer]

[ Country girl has no idea what a normal classroom size is, honestly.

She blinks down when she notes how cold he is, though. Or is she a little overheated? Hard to say, but... ]

Maybe. It's really hard to guess at what whoever's behind this is thinking. Are you okay, though? You feel a little cold...

[reapoman]

I run cold, don't worry about it.

[ Apart from his injuries, he looks fine, if pale. ]

[suplexer]

Okay. That ghost didn't do anything to you, right...?

[ Just... making sure. ]

[reapoman]

Not anything more than it did to anyone else here, I think. You're worried just because I'm cold?

[suplexer]

Sorry, I didn't mean to pry... [ Wrings her hands. ] I just also know that not everyone found their key, so...

[ What does that mean. What happened to them. She doesn't really want to think about it. ]

[reapoman]

I'm pretty sure I'm haunted to some degree now, if that's what you want to know.

I keep seeing those weird dolls show up.

[ He's so remarkably calm about that. ]

[suplexer]

[ She steps back, both hands flying up to fold at her chest. Doing this smears blood from her wrist onto her uniform. ]

What?!

[reapoman]

It's fine. I'd rather they were bothering me than someone else.

[suplexer]

...

Are you used to this kind of thing, then?

[ He seems so unbothered. ]

[reapoman]

For the most part. Usually I'm not the one getting haunted, though.

[suplexer]

Wh-what does that mean?

[ Is he a ghost??? Is that why he was so cold???

She's doing her utmost best to not look spooked. ]

[reapoman]

[ oh my god Tifa please. Ivan rubs his temples. ]

... I work for Death. But I'm not here to hurt anyone, okay? I'm a prisoner just like everyone else.

[suplexer]

[ Sorry Ivan, she just... really struggles with ghosts.

And hearing him so casually say that he works for Death only confuses things, but at least the confusion outstrips the fear. ]

Right, sorry, it's just...

[ She takes a moment to pause and think. While crossing that river of the Lifestream with Gi Nattak wasn't quite the same, it's the closest she's really gotten to Death in any sense — that, and falling into the Lifestream. So, with that in mind: ]

Does that mean... you're some kind of lost soul?

[reapoman]

Grim reaper.

[ As if that answers anything. ]

Being a lost soul isn't a job requirement, though a few of us fit the bill.

[suplexer]

[ Unclear if the concept of a grim reaper actually exists on Gaia, so... she's still kind of confused. ]

And... what does a grim reaper do, exactly?

[reapoman]

[ Oh... he figured this was kind of a universal concept. Clearly not. ]

Usher the souls of the dead to the afterlife.

[ He holds up his hands, anticipating what might come after that revelation. ]

I'm not here for work. No one here is dead. I was kidnapped like everyone else.

[suplexer]

[ Usher them? Tifa tilts her head at that, still a little confused, but maybe on some worlds there's no concept of returning to the planet? The Gi must have come from a world like that, come to think of it. ]

Right... But does that mean you can do something about the ghosts? Do they just need help passing on?

[ That sure would solve a lot of their problems. ]

[reapoman]

That depends on the ghost, but right now I don't have my powers so it doesn't matter.

[ SURE WOULD solve a lot of their problems, wouldn't it? ]

Besides, if whatever is here was strong enough to kidnap me and strip my abilities, it's probably out of my league.

[suplexer]

[ Oh true, people keep claiming that their magic is gone. Tifa deflates a little at that, but maybe she should have known it wouldn't be so simple. ]

Yeah, whatever we're dealing with, it's no joke.

[ She takes a wary glance around. ]

I still want to know what happened to that thing that was banging at the window...