It had to be the most confusing morning in his memory, and Hope wondered if he was starting to get used to the confusion since he barely batted an eye when he first woke up in his room again. There was light this time, much to his relief, although he had no idea how he got back to his room. Hadn't he gotten far away? Decently far, at least, or at as far as he could in the darkness.
And then that conversation...
He could have laughed when he realized what disturbed him the most in the morning was his change of clothes. Another world, possibly another universe, and he couldn't stop fussing about the old hand-me-down clothes that he got in the morning? But he had never seen old clothes like that, much less worn them before. He found himself just following along numbly as guards (soldiers? doctors?) came to held him out, not bothering to explain anything as they handed him items shoved into a brown paper bag.
What was this place? The call in the morning said trip, said going out... but all he could feel as he was herded onto the old
( ... )
That wasn't so bad, really. Anise had felt a lot of dread regarding their trip to the ruins, but in the end, they didn't experience anything to horrifying or disastrous. And they even got out of there with their pockets full of money!
... Well, they did, but as Anise's hands reached for Tokunaga and her pants pocket, she found no doll in bed with her, and nothing in her pocket. Right, the military took everything. Hopefully, she'd get it all back later. Those creeps better not have pocketed a few bills for themselves!
When Anise pulled herself out of bed, she was greeted by a familiar-looking nurse. After staring at the woman's face for a few moments, she realized when it was that she'd seen her before. "Hey, you're...!" The lady soldier who was escorting Anise around yesterday. Today, she was dressed in a nurse's uniform, with her hair pulled up in a bun. This was probably what the guy on the intercom meant by Aguilar's best men and women.The woman offered a small smile as she set a pile of clothes down on Anise's bed. "You'll be
( ... )
Hope could barely muster the willpower to look up when he heard someone who might be speaking with him, as reluctant as he was to talk to anyone. His eyes widened, however, seeing a girl who looked... around his age? Had she just appeared here, too? But no, she looked far more comfortable, as is she was completely used to this already. But then, from what he had gleaned the night before, everyone here just... found themselves here one day
( ... )
Well, it didn't look like he was going to shoo her away, which was a good sign. There was a chance that he was just a gloomy, antisocial guy, but maybe he was just a little down in the dumps. Nothing a chat with a cute girl couldn't fix, right? It was worth a try.
"Thanks!" Anise chirped in her usual high-pitched voice, plopping down on the seat next to the stranger. Her paper bag was set in her lap, with her coupons and card safely inside. It was kind of a funny coincidence that the staff would give them money so soon after Anise and her friends went and collected a bunch, but the new policy was definitely a welcome one. Finally, she could go shopping! It was nice to have something to look forward to for once.
"My name's Anise." It was only polite to introduce herself if they were going to spend the ride together. The guy next to her looked pretty uncomfortable, though. Either he had a really rough night, or... "Is this your first time going on the field trip?" she asked, tilting her head a little as she did.
He blinked for a moment before nodding, still unsure of himself. The field trip? That sounded like a regular occurrence. Still, he couldn't wrap his head around it... another world, a hospital of some sort (it didn't look like any hospital he knew of, though. No technology. Or less), and a trip
( ... )
Anise's smile softened a little when the boy answered. It looked like 'uncomfortable' was an understatement with this kid, and it wasn't long before he revealed why that was.
"Whoa! Just last night?" Her eyes widened for a moment. "No wonder. You're probably really confused right now, huh?" The military takeover made things confusing enough for veterans like Anise. It was hard to even imagine what it was like for a new arrival. And arriving in the middle of night? That was just cruel.
From the paper bag in her lap, Anise retrieved a muffin, picked a piece off the top, and ate it. "Hmm... There's a whole lot of stuff you probably want to hear about. Do you want me to start with the basics?" Fortunately, they had the whole ride to talk, so maybe Hope would leave the bus somewhat prepared for what was to come.
His eyes were wider as he listened, loosening his grip on his worn and baggy jeans. She sounded so straight forward about it, as if the change hadn't bothered her at all, or at the very least, it didn't bother her anymore. It was... nicer. Not panicking, that was. While he hadn't exactly panicked last night (he hadn't, he told himself firmly. He had just... floundered a bit. It was a normal reaction), he was in no way comfortable with the thoughts of it. Being stranded with no way home, or even just no way back to normal.
...He would never be able to get his life back to normal.
He didn't even know how much time he had. How much time were l'Cie given to fulfill their Focus before they failed and turned into monsters? How much time did he have? Another world or not, he still had the brand, and he doubted that distance would do anything to stall its acceleration. Here, he had no chance of fulfilling his Focus-- Hope had to scoff at the idea, though. Them saving Cocoon. That was a preposterous thought. Cocoon needed to be saved from
( ... )
Even for a new guy, this kid looked pretty helpless. It was hard not to want to help someone like that. It was something Anise often cursed herself for; no matter what, she couldn't bring herself to leave helpless people alone, even if she knew that sometimes it was the best thing to do
( ... )
He shrugged loosely. What had he figured out yesterday-- that this place was creepy? That there were places darker than when he closed his eyes. Perhaps the one good thing that had come out of the morning was the relief that came with knowing that light hadn't disappeared, or actually existed in this place. Pitch black had been... unnerving, to say the least.
"I was told this place is a hospital." Although he wasn't certain of that. It didn't look like a hospital. The man who had told him that (teenager?) had been concise in his wording as well, and seemed as unaffected as Anise did. How long had they been here? "And... it's supposed to be another world."
He was surprisingly accepting of the other world theory, perhaps because that was what he had woken up thinking-- that maybe this place was Pulse; was Hell. Knowing that he wasn't on Pulse, but on some other world... Hope wasn't sure whether to be relieved or more frightened
( ... )
That wasn't a bad start. It sounded like Hope might have run into someone the previous night, if he heard the hospital bit. He also mentioned the 'other world' part, which maybe meant that he wasn't going to completely disregard it
( ... )
That seemed... more than a lot to take in. He hadn't run into anything last night other than one person... and the darkness. It wasn't like he could go very far when he couldn't see anything at all, but his imagination had supplied plenty of monsters for him.
"But why would anyone want to do that?" It didn't matter that a part of him, a very bitter part, snarked about it being exactly what he had feared. That he had been kidnapped by the Sanctum and was going to be experimented on before they killed him. That he had been expecting it, for all intents and purposes, and did he really think he was going to escape unscathed even for whatever time he might have left over? With his luck and his life lately, nothing good was going to happen to him; no solace even in being pulled to some kind of demented hospital. Hospitals were meant to heal, and this wasn't... anything like that at all
( ... )
A rat in a maze. He closed his eyes for a moment, burying his nose down into the thick scarf around his neck. It was the first thought he had about this place; what a thing to learn that might be true
( ... )
When Hope declined to eat, Anise let out a small, silent sigh. She still thought that he might regret that, but she couldn't force him to do anything he didn't want to do. Besides, maybe he wasn't feeling well, and she definitely didn't want to push that when she was the one sitting next to him for the whole ride. All this talk of human experiments could churn most people's stomachs, she realized.
Letting that subject drop as abruptly as it was brought up, she focused instead on his questions. Unfortunately, there really wasn't an easy way to answer them.
"No one remembers getting here, and... no one's been able to get home, from what I've heard," she answered, her gaze lowering to her own knees as she shared the gloomy facts. "The only people who leave are the people they let out; the people they managed to brainwash into thinking they're someone else." There were also the people who died, but... this conversation was dark enough without mentioning that
( ... )
And then that conversation...
He could have laughed when he realized what disturbed him the most in the morning was his change of clothes. Another world, possibly another universe, and he couldn't stop fussing about the old hand-me-down clothes that he got in the morning? But he had never seen old clothes like that, much less worn them before. He found himself just following along numbly as guards (soldiers? doctors?) came to held him out, not bothering to explain anything as they handed him items shoved into a brown paper bag.
What was this place? The call in the morning said trip, said going out... but all he could feel as he was herded onto the old ( ... )
Reply
... Well, they did, but as Anise's hands reached for Tokunaga and her pants pocket, she found no doll in bed with her, and nothing in her pocket. Right, the military took everything. Hopefully, she'd get it all back later. Those creeps better not have pocketed a few bills for themselves!
When Anise pulled herself out of bed, she was greeted by a familiar-looking nurse. After staring at the woman's face for a few moments, she realized when it was that she'd seen her before. "Hey, you're...!" The lady soldier who was escorting Anise around yesterday. Today, she was dressed in a nurse's uniform, with her hair pulled up in a bun. This was probably what the guy on the intercom meant by Aguilar's best men and women.The woman offered a small smile as she set a pile of clothes down on Anise's bed. "You'll be ( ... )
Reply
Reply
"Thanks!" Anise chirped in her usual high-pitched voice, plopping down on the seat next to the stranger. Her paper bag was set in her lap, with her coupons and card safely inside. It was kind of a funny coincidence that the staff would give them money so soon after Anise and her friends went and collected a bunch, but the new policy was definitely a welcome one. Finally, she could go shopping! It was nice to have something to look forward to for once.
"My name's Anise." It was only polite to introduce herself if they were going to spend the ride together. The guy next to her looked pretty uncomfortable, though. Either he had a really rough night, or... "Is this your first time going on the field trip?" she asked, tilting her head a little as she did.
Reply
Reply
"Whoa! Just last night?" Her eyes widened for a moment. "No wonder. You're probably really confused right now, huh?" The military takeover made things confusing enough for veterans like Anise. It was hard to even imagine what it was like for a new arrival. And arriving in the middle of night? That was just cruel.
From the paper bag in her lap, Anise retrieved a muffin, picked a piece off the top, and ate it. "Hmm... There's a whole lot of stuff you probably want to hear about. Do you want me to start with the basics?" Fortunately, they had the whole ride to talk, so maybe Hope would leave the bus somewhat prepared for what was to come.
Reply
...He would never be able to get his life back to normal.
He didn't even know how much time he had. How much time were l'Cie given to fulfill their Focus before they failed and turned into monsters? How much time did he have? Another world or not, he still had the brand, and he doubted that distance would do anything to stall its acceleration. Here, he had no chance of fulfilling his Focus-- Hope had to scoff at the idea, though. Them saving Cocoon. That was a preposterous thought. Cocoon needed to be saved from ( ... )
Reply
Reply
"I was told this place is a hospital." Although he wasn't certain of that. It didn't look like a hospital. The man who had told him that (teenager?) had been concise in his wording as well, and seemed as unaffected as Anise did. How long had they been here? "And... it's supposed to be another world."
He was surprisingly accepting of the other world theory, perhaps because that was what he had woken up thinking-- that maybe this place was Pulse; was Hell. Knowing that he wasn't on Pulse, but on some other world... Hope wasn't sure whether to be relieved or more frightened ( ... )
Reply
Reply
That seemed... more than a lot to take in. He hadn't run into anything last night other than one person... and the darkness. It wasn't like he could go very far when he couldn't see anything at all, but his imagination had supplied plenty of monsters for him.
"But why would anyone want to do that?" It didn't matter that a part of him, a very bitter part, snarked about it being exactly what he had feared. That he had been kidnapped by the Sanctum and was going to be experimented on before they killed him. That he had been expecting it, for all intents and purposes, and did he really think he was going to escape unscathed even for whatever time he might have left over? With his luck and his life lately, nothing good was going to happen to him; no solace even in being pulled to some kind of demented hospital. Hospitals were meant to heal, and this wasn't... anything like that at all ( ... )
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
Letting that subject drop as abruptly as it was brought up, she focused instead on his questions. Unfortunately, there really wasn't an easy way to answer them.
"No one remembers getting here, and... no one's been able to get home, from what I've heard," she answered, her gaze lowering to her own knees as she shared the gloomy facts. "The only people who leave are the people they let out; the people they managed to brainwash into thinking they're someone else." There were also the people who died, but... this conversation was dark enough without mentioning that ( ... )
Reply
Leave a comment