Day 50: Chapel

[full_score]

The last thing Claude heard was the Head Doctor's voice faintly filtering into the corridors of the ship before he found himself tucked beneath the sheets of his bed. It took a moment to register he'd even changed locations, but then he he abruptly sat up, fought the wave of nausea that washed over him, and felt the blankets beneath his fingers.

Comments

[zack_fair]

It looked like his instincts had been right: they'd been pretty close to the end of the night by the time they'd reached that locker room. Zack stirred in bed, glaring up at the intercom before he sprung up to his feet and did some stretches. It looked like his roommate was already gone, which either meant he'd decided to wake up, or he'd disappeared like the others. He'd probably only know for sure when dinner rolled around again

[notachick]

The night ended so abruptly that Okita wasn't sure what had happened. He was certain they'd gone through a door, but then...? He was waking up in his bed, coughing, clutching his chest in a panic. The feeling wasn't new and yet after all the strangeness of the previous night and the memory of his failed assassination attempt, Okita felt himself more out of sorts that normal. His nurse was wary when she arrived, giving him some water for his coughing and offering some sort of liquid to drink (which he refused - for all he knew it was poison), then took him to the Sun Room as he requested

[zack_fair]

It wasn't the person he was expecting, and while that was something of a disappointment, Zack didn't let that show on his face. He glanced up at the stranger, taking in the long hair and the polite expression. He was hardly fazed by the man's somewhat feminine appearance, as he'd met a few people during his time at Shin-Ra who might also fit into that category.

"Not at all," he said, gesturing to the empty space on his pew. There were a lot of people in here already, so it would be pretty rude of him to refuse the other patient. Besides, there was no knowing for certain that Aerith would show up, and even if she did, he doubted there would be a problem with her joining the conversation.

"I'm Zack," he said, figuring that an introduction was an easy way to start things off. He smiled at the man and then leaned back in the pew, not bothering to remain formal despite the setting. "How was your night?" he asked, figuring that there was a good chance the other patient had some interesting stories to tell.

[notachick]

This man was one of the newer patients. Okita had seen him about for a day or so, but he hadn't been around long enough for the swordsman to really start paying attention to him yet. It was a good cover for him as he watched Homura and Kenshin's conversation. Which was apparently not going well since Homura just punched the bench in front of him.

Best to turn away then.

"Soujirou," he said in return to the greeting, bowing his head slightly. Zack seemed like an easy going type and with a name like his, it was unlikely he knew of the war, but it was best to distance himself from the crazed captain who ran the halls at night. During the day, as much as possible, Okita wanted to be the boy he used to be. "Thank you for letting me sit with you. It was a very busy night. A bit...odd though. Did you have trouble with the doors, too?" He leaned back against the bench and sighed, blowing a strand of hair out of his face. "I've never known doors to be so troublesome before."

[zack_fair]

Soujirou, huh? It was another name that sounded like it could be Wutaian, but Zack wasn't going to jump to any conclusions. Besides, even if the stranger did happen to be from there, Zack didn't really want to advertise who he was. A lot of the Wutaians held him personally responsible for their losses during the war, even though he'd really only been involved in Fort Tamblin and taking out the Crescent Unit. Which was bad enough on its own, but it wasn't like he'd spearheaded the entire war effort either. Sephiroth was more to blame for that

[notachick]

Definitely all the wrong places. Okita hadn't expected the door leading to the outside to lead to a room boasting giant rocks rolling around trying to kill him. Nor had he expected that he'd end up working with his enemy just to survive it. He still had no idea where that room was supposed to be in relation to the rest of the Institute, but he had a suspicion it was the basement. Only that place could hold something so massive without raising alarm. The sound alone was enough that someone would have noticed it somewhere along the way

[zack_fair]

Judging from that reaction, not everyone had actually gone back to their home worlds the night before. Zack frowned, wondering why the three of them had made it back when others hadn't. Was there some reason that they'd been chosen, or had it just been the luck of the draw? It didn't seem fair, but trying to figure out the logic behind it wasn't going to be possible unless he heard more from other patients. Maybe they'd ended up there because all of them were actually from there

[notachick]

The door across from the Sun Room meant the front lobby according to the map Okita had memorized and that gave him a good starting point. He'd need to check the boards more thoroughly for information on this particular phenomenon and how to recreate it. If they could get home, even for a moment, Okita could leave a note for his friends and tell him of what was to come. He could get word out about the future and, no matter how crazy it sounded, Hijikata would believe him. Kondou would at least listen, and Yamanami might even be saved

[zack_fair]

At Soujirou's next batch of questions, Zack could only sigh and shake his head. "That's the thing," he said, "the place was completely deserted. We couldn't find a single person who we could actually talk to. It was like they'd all just vanished." It was frustrating, especially when considering that they could have at least tried to get help or let people back home know what was going on. His word wouldn't mean much since he'd been dead for years by that time, but Cloud

[notachick]

Deserted? Did that mean they really went home or was it some sort of illusion? Okita couldn't imagine returning home and seeing an empty landscape. It must have been both frustrating and intensely disturbing to see such a sight. A world without people, only animals and monsters... Okita didn't think he would be able to stand it.

As Zack went on to describe what he'd seen, Okita relaxed and sat back, realizing that perhaps the bait of being sent home wasn't real after all. They'd gone to the place, certainly, but not home. Only a shell without any substance.

The swordsman lowered his gaze slightly and sat back in his seat, smiling a bit at his own foolishness. Of course this place wouldn't give them such a chance at returning home. "I'm truly sorry to hear that, Zack-san." And he was, for more than just selfish reasons. He couldn't imagine being in Zack's shoes right now. Having almost gotten what he wanted only to have it taken from him so cruelly. "Perhaps it was a trick by this place and not the real thing?"

[zack_fair]

The apology wasn't necessary, and the weird suffix added to his name even less so. "Just Zack is fine," he said with a smile, not wanting to come off as mean about it. If Soujirou really wanted to call him that, then he'd get used to it, but it definitely wasn't required. "But I don't know, at least I got to see my home. I feel kind of bad that not everyone did." Even if Gaia had been in a serious state of distress, and even though he'd seen things that had taken place long after his death, he still considered it something of a privilege

[notachick]

Zack was another person who wasn't used to hearing honorifics apparently. Okita wasn't entirely certain how to deal with those who asked him to be so informal, but he was learning to simply avoid using names at all in that case. He supposed this was just one of the difficulties inherent in mixing cultures like this. Someone not from Asia or Japan wouldn't understand the necessity for hierarchy and manner in the same way another Japanese person would. Okita simply bowed his head in acknowledgment and filed away a note not to use Zack's name very much in the future

[zack_fair]

[So, so sorry for the wait. D:]Even though it was something of a downer, Soujirou was probably right. The head doctor was messing with them, sending them home just to show them the extent of his power. Zack already knew how much the man was capable of, seeing how he was here at all. If anything, what he had to do was focus on the good part of what had happened last night, which was that he'd gotten a window into Gaia's future. It had been bleak in some ways, but it wasn't as if Cloud and his friends had failed to save the world -- there had just been some damage done along the way

[notachick]

[It's no problem! You're not really late, silly. |D ]Lightning spell? Okita paused with his arms over his head and gave Zack a curious look. He'd brought back a spell? Okita had imagined some sort of physical object, but a spell and magic might be far more useful. If it didn't have the same restraints that all other magic had here, then it would definitely be of use. Okita himself had no idea how all this magic and barriers and whatever else worked, but he knew that it was frustrating to those who had their powers locked to them. Homura being a chief example

[zack_fair]

The second he heard the word "magician," Zack felt that he could be almost certain that Soujirou wasn't from Gaia. He'd been getting that feeling anyway, but that cemented it. Even a layman would have had some idea of how materia worked, but the idea was clearly out of this patient's area of knowledge

[notachick]

Zack shook his head and went on to explain that magic came in little colored crystal balls of planet energy and Okita found himself rather lost in it all. He had heard once that stones could contain mystical powers and he knew that energy and power could be sealed within ordinary objects, but to think that one could harvest the planet's energy like that! And in a weapon, too. Well, he should have expected the weapon part seeing how it was people who had learned to utilize the orbs at all, but it was still a little overwhelming to think of