Inexorable Altercation [Round V - Saint Arthelais' Hospital]

Peth glanced up at Atelia, closing a book and giving her his best curious look.

"Barrabas needs you."

Peth nodded, but stared at the book in his lap. There were books all over the floor, pulled from the shelves seemingly at random.

"I've been thinking," he eventually said. Atelia trilled, chiding.

"Azgard survived by a thread, Peth. The round's ended, and we need the new location."

"Yeah," Peth muttered, taking his newest book and placing it on a pile. He rubbed his eyes. "It just, feels weird, you know? All these books help, but I've never actually met any of these people."

Atelia sensed her fellow cultist's hesitation. "You'll do fine," she soothed. The boy just curled tighter and smaller into the depths of his chair, so Atelia drifted over and laid a hand on his shoulder. "Your round is yours alone to control. You don't have to let anyone in that you can't handle. Just-"

"Steer clear of the contestants, I know." Peth yawned, sulked and uncoiled a little. "They all warned me. I'm just scared, I guess."

"To go back to a place you could hardly call home?"

Peth glared at her. Atelia shrugged, laughed her bell-like laugh, and beckoned the boy from the study.

---

The surviving contestants, numbers halved, were transported into some manner of waiting room. The atmosphere hadn't decayed to the point of oppressive, but the power was out, the windows (where still intact) were overgrown, and the barely-daylight of an overcast sky contributed little to the ambience. A moment's paralysed pause, and another one of the cultists appeared before them. He was small, his voice wavered, and his pale violet tattoos lent that paltry extra light to the room.

"Hi everyone, my name's Peth. I'll be here with you for this round. Not, uh, with you with you, we should stay out of each others way, but, yeah. These things always have one round with people from other battles, so that's my job."

The cultist turned his back on the contestants, looking around the lobby in faint confusion. "I think I remember this place... yeah. This is Saint Arthelais' Hospital. Like the rest of the planet, it's deserted! Um, not for long though. The gardens were always really pretty, but nobody's looked after them for... years now. Centuries? I dunno. Like I said, it's been a while. I guess that's everything?"

Peth scuffed his feet on the grimy tiles; left a beige opposite of a mark. It was only once he turned a corner and disappeared elsewhere that the four could move again.

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SpoilerI've probably given ideas for this on IRC in the months intervening (sorry sorry sorry) but here's your Round V/Cameo round, hosted by cultist Peth: Saint Arthelais' Hospital! This hospital, noted for its beautiful gardens and state-of-the-art facilities, was abandoned well before the battlers showed up. Heck, it was abandoned before the cultists' battle started, as Peth was the sole inhabitant of this entire planet. The hospital is all overgrown ruins by now; I got as far as thinking there's a multistorey main building and possibly a bunch of smaller wards scattered around the grounds. The architecture is "clearly a hospital" but suits whatever the heck Peth's species was (whether Peth's ability is common to all members of his race or not is a different matter). That's all your guys' call though.

Peth, as noted elsewhere, has abandonment issues and the power to form copies of people from his past. He's been spending his spare time since IA's beginning reading up on contestants in other grand battles, the better to make realistic copies of them. His memories prior to abduction for IA were locked by his Grandmaster. He'll be present and available for interaction within the round, though the other cultists would probably frown upon it. The Hospital itself was a scene from Peth's past, so who knows what information you might dredge up on him???