Day 5: New arrival
Who: [AU] Nephry, [AU] Jade
Where: Outside Guy's manor
When: Day 5, afternoon
Warnings: None yet.
( She may not remember much, but she knew something was very wrong )
Where: Outside Guy's manor
When: Day 5, afternoon
Warnings: None yet.
( She may not remember much, but she knew something was very wrong )
He neglected to add that, given their present circumstances, every scientific mind should be stimulated to the utmost -- but Jade rather hoped that such a thing went without saying.
They had finished their circuit of the marketplace and the palace grounds, and they were on their way back inside the manor when he saw her.
Jade rather prided himself on his cool analytical mind, his ability to keep his head in a crisis. He was not prone to outbursts, irrationality, or mental stutters. He rarely opened his mouth without knowing exactly what would come out of it. But the sight of her seemed to scramble his synapses.
What are you doing here
Why would you come anywhere near me
Damn damn damn damn
But she wasn't his sister, of course. She couldn't be his. She would be the Nephry belonging to this reality, or perhaps some other version of the girl altogether. And that helped him to breathe.
"Nephry," he said brightly. "What a pleasant surprise."
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Well, there was an easy way to solve the problem now that he had spoken, she would merely ask him. Thinking this over would lead to nothing besides making her head hurt even more than it already was.
"I'm sorry, sir, but I fear you have me at somewhat of an advantage. Could I ask who you might be and why seeing me is a pleasant surprise?"
There, she finally asked it, now at least this mystery would finally be solved.
But would she only have more questions afterwards?
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Namely, shoving her up against the nearest wall and questioning her in a -- less than gentle manner.
"Well," Jade said, not dishonestly, "I suppose I should hardly be surprised. Although the resemblance certainly remains, so perhaps you had the same parents but I was never born."
Was he confusing her? In all likelihood. Did he really care? No, not in the slightest. He was somewhat more occupied with staring at her.
She had no idea who he was, really and sincerely. She didn't know. And he felt very strange -- choked, adrenaline rushing -- at the sight of her.
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"But how could you have never been born if you are standing in front of me now? What are you even talking about?"
If only she could figure this out on her own, she was sure that the resemblance meant something, it would be too much of a coincidence for there to be someone not at all related to her who looked that much like her.
But then, maybe she was at fault for not explaining that she didn't remember anything from beyond a month ago, she didn't even know what had caused it, since she woke up in a strange place. However, those crimson eyes of his staring at her so intently, along with that frown on his face made her so nervous that she was hesitant to mention it. Maybe she was wrong about him and the resemblance, or maybe her familiy didn't want anything to do with her.
She spoke before he had a chance to respond to her question. "I'm sorry, I probably should just go home. Could you by chance give me directions on how to get back to the marketplace from here? I can find it from there."
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She thought he was insane. Jade supposed he should have expected that, given the topic of their conversation, and perhaps he ought to have let her go -- someone was bound to notice her, and explain the situation in slightly smaller words -- but instead he smiled peaceably at the guards on either side of him and said to them, "This young woman is my sister -- or, at least, some version of her. She does not recognize me, so I am forced to assume she is yet another of our strange interlopers. I'm sure I don't know what the official procedure is in this situation, but it can't be to simply let her go."
The guards hesitated, exchanging glances, but of course what he said was correct, and of course procedure didn't involve letting their invaders wander away. One of them took an apologetically-hesitant step towards her.
To her, Jade said helpfully, "Your name is Nephry, isn't it? And you don't know quite what happened to you, or how you came to be here. I can explain, although I'm not sure you'll believe me. My name is Jade Balfour, and I am a scientist -- or, in this reality, a colonel in the Malkuth military. Welcome to Grand Chokmah."
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She just couldn't find the words to even ask what he was talking about. Interlopers? What did he mean by that? Well, she knew she didn't belong in this part of the city, and still had no idea how she came to be in this part of the city.
The guards' reactions bothered her, what had she done that was so wrong? She was just lost, that wasn't a crime, right?
This must be some sort of weird dream or something, it had to be. However, her bad dreams seemed to involve much less clothing. Unconsciously she looked down at herself to make sure she was indeed wearing clothing. She breathed a sigh of relief to see it wasn't that sort of dream at least.
Well, she had better answer his question at least before he did something even worse. "Yes, I'm Nephry Osbourne. I know what happened to me, I lost my memory in an accident about a month ago, at least that was the guess considering the injuries I had and where I was found. I do admit, how I came to be in this location confuses me, but there has to be an explaination, a sensible explanation."
And now she knew what would come next, pity. She was really growing to hate that reaction, surely she could have been much worse off than not having any memory. Considering what she was told about how she was found, she could very well have died. Yes, this was far preferable to the alternative.
"I am glad to finally know your name, but you're wrong about me not recognizing you. I saw you about a week ago speaking with a woman, but you were dressed differently. I'm sorry I didn't approach you then."
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