This was really weird. To be honest, Snow wasn't even really sure what was happening for a few seconds. Nor was he even capable of being confused yet. He was drifting in that strange plane between being asleep and being awake. Only thing was, he never remembered falling asleep. So it was more that he was suddenly in this weird dazed state out of nowhere, incapable of even wondering where he was and what had happened for a few moments.
Snow actually wasn't the sort of guy who slept in. Sitting around and doing nothing in particular was something he hated. Unless you were doing nothing with other people. Like, him and Serah? They could just sit on the beach doing nothing all day and that would be just fine with him. He remembered doing nothing with Gadot and Lebreau when they were all kids, too. Just wandering. Not going anywhere. Not doing anything. Like a bunch of stray cats.
For some reason, this thought is what he grasped onto and what started dragging him from sleep. Cats. NORA. .... He blinked. Then all of a sudden he was awake, sitting straight up in his bed. What was he... doing? How did he get back back here? Wasn't he just...? He put a hand on his chest, where this horrible pain was lingering. It was like someone had taken something really hot and slammed him in the chest with it. Both a burn and a bruise in one, it felt like. Not unbearable, nothing he couldn't handle, but bad anyway.
He blinked around the pitch black room, trying to get his eyes to adjust to the dark and figure out what the hell had just happened.
Any relative peace that Snow was experiencing there in the darkness... was abruptly shattered with the arrival of one very agitated fellow l'Cie.
As always, the quick thumping of her footsteps was probably the first warning, but this time it was also the only warning before the sound of the woman slamming herself right into the door echoed through the room and down the hall. He had better regain his bearings quick; she didn't have time or the patience for much else.
"Snow!! Open the door!" In other words, if he wasn't there to do so, she was fully intent on kicking the thing down. Panting with exertion from the full-on sprint she'd done from her own room to his, she whacked her lighting device on the wooden barrier for effect.
Well, if he hadn't been completely awake by now, that sure as well would've gotten him there quick. As soon as he heard something slam into his door, Snow immediately bounded to his feet and whirled to face the door, startled and ready for anything. Er, or at least anything other than the sound of Light yelling at him frantically through the door.
He still hadn't completely grasped exactly how he'd wound up back at the room, so getting one more confusing thing thrown in his face wasn't exactly making things better. Not that he really cared about standing around and wondering about it. A mix of confusion, adrenaline, and concern due to Lightning's tone was enough to cast all else out of his mind and make him react solely on instinct. He rushed forward immediately without question and threw open the door, half ready to run out and deal with whatever Light might be yelling out to him for. Maybe something had been chasing her.
"What's going on?!" he yelled back, half in alarm and half due to just... not being capable of keeping a calm rational voice at the moment.
At once Lightning was attempting to push her way into the room, through the man in the way. The last thing on her mind was conforming to upholding manners- there was way too much clogging things up mentally at the moment, and the fact that she hadn't been able to find him was searing. He wasn't difficult to find. Or at least he shouldn't have been!
"Where have you been?"
And taking it out on him at least a little was easy. It wasn't unusual - or hadn't been unusual once - for Lightning's temper to turn dangerously powerful once it found reason to flare up. When she'd been turned into a l'Cie that tendency had heightened for sure... but then again, it had then definitely leveled out. It seemed that the more her power increased, the more reasons she was presented with to take stock in being cunning but rational.
This wasn't even anything like that 'regular' fury, though. If nothing else, it was about as close to outright panic as she'd gotten in years, and the fact that she was still in the 'patient' clothing, hadn't touched her hair, and was now staring at Snow with her pale eyes wide only accentuated that. Her outbursts were typically short-lived. This one was obviously persisting.
Maybe it was because he had just woken up a few moments ago. Maybe it was because he'd secretly been given a mild heart attack with someone slamming into the door and yelling at him out of nowhere like that. Or maybe it was because he was standing here with a sudden surge of adrenaline and absolutely nothing and nowhere to direct it. But whatever the reason, Snow somehow wasn't fully able to comprehend everything that was happening at the moment.
Lightning pushed him backward and she moved forward and into the room, making him stumble a step before going along with it. He stayed staring at her the whole time with a blank sort of surprise as he tried to understand why she was so upset. Well... Okay, it's not like it was the first time she'd ever gotten mad out of the blue, but that didn't mean he should just accept it as is, right?
He blinked a bit as that question registered. Where... had he been? He didn't really understand. Yeah, he understood the question, but he didn't know why she was asking something like that or why she sounded so angry about it. "Uh. Right... here. Why?"
There was a good chance he sounded about as confused as he was feeling. He had the distinct feeling that he was kind of missing something here. What the hell was going on? Why was Light all worked up? And what was she talking about?
Lightning didn't let up. "You've been gone for a day!" she cried in response, in a tone that might have turned out stern if she hadn't still been so obviously upset. Frustrated, she shook her head; spinning on her heel once she was inside the room, she glanced at the door still standing ajar, then decided she didn't even care that it remained open as she continued, her body language stiff and every bit as tense as her words.
"I haven't seen you since we were in the town-- that was a day ago. Since then-- we were supposed to check up, Snow!" Never mind that that was a lot of her fault too that it hadn't happened, considering her prolonged distraction upon discovering Hope in such a messed up state. Her first priority had been trying to find him again, not seeking out her sister's fiance...!
And abruptly, she almost seemed to deflate, letting out a heavy breath and lifting a hand to touch fingertips to her brow. Slowly, she shook her head again before glancing up and away. Hope was one thing- the teen was like her little brother by now, and to see him so confused, trying to push her away, and then taken from her again...? It stung harder than just about anything.
Except for what she'd seen earlier that day-- or at least what she assumed was earlier in the day. As far as she knew she could have been out for quite a while as well...
Serah...
"I saw Hope," she admitted, voice low, and then with her teeth grit, started next on the words she knew would hit him roughly five hundred times harder- "...And Serah. Snow--" She hesitated just a second, distress practically flowing out of her. "Serah is here."
Gone a day? How was that... even possible? Here he'd thought he'd somehow been knocked out or something and brought back to the room somehow. Had he actually been knocked out for a whole day? It was a crazy thing to wrap his head around. So that was why Light was upset? Cause she hadn't heard from him in a day when they were supposed to be checking up on each other? Had she thought something happened? ...She should've known better than that, though. It's not like he'd go and get himself killed or anything.
But this kind of distress was really off putting to see on her. It was similar to the mix of rage and dismay he'd seen on her back in the Vestige. And it wasn't anything he wanted to see a second time. Once had been enough. Should he apologize? Sorry for worrying you? Sorry, I didn't realize I was unconscious that long? What was he really supposed to say here? Unsure regarding the answer to that, he awkwardly looked at her as she continued, glancing to her, away, and back in uncertainty until she mentioned Hope.
That was unexpected. The kid who'd been wandering the Pulse Vestige with Vanille, right? They'd managed to snatch him and throw him in here, too? Honestly, Snow had been distracted, thinking about getting everyone out of this place, but he'd been hopeful that everyone else was still out there and keeping themselves safe. But then Sis had showed up here. And now Hope. And...
Snow froze. Completely. As soon as that name came out of Lightning's mouth. For a second he thought maybe he was misunderstanding what she was trying to say, but she clarified immediately. He was dead silent while his heart tried to figure out how to keep beating now that it'd somehow jammed itself into his throat. Serah... Serah was... here?
"Wh... What do you mean?!" Without thinking he'd stepped forward and grabbed both her shoulders. He could have shaken her. He could have yelled. ...More than he already was already, anyhow. "What do you mean she's here?!"
It was impossible! He didn't want to believe it. Raines was supposed to be taking care of her! She was supposed to be held in a secure chamber on the Lindblum, where no one and nothing would so much as breathe on her until she finally woke back up from her sleep. There should have been no way to get to her without getting through every single member of the fleet's crew while they were at it.
...Then again, shouldn't the same have been for him? He was on that ship, too. But he'd wound up here. How could he have not realized?! How could he have not noticed?! They took her. They took her!!
"Where is she?!" He probably looked as frantic as she was looking. Maybe more. If they had done anything to her....
Even as she was now, defending herself was instinctive; instantly Lightning's arms shot up to try and push off Snow's hands as she twisted away- an act that was notably awkward, considering both of her hands were full... and one of the things occupying them was her sword.
"I don't know!" her voice rose while she stepped back, and she made like she was about to say more, but then... just froze up instead. If she'd thought the weight of emotion was heavy on her before, now her guilt was so strong it was suffocating. Why had she let her sister get away from her?? She could barely even think right, and even with her mind trying its best to race through her options despite that, she didn't have a solution. The easiest answer - to get out and save her sister - was also the hardest.
She was well aware of where Serah was supposed to be- the fact that she was here was impossible and she knew that. They would have had to go through the Cavalry to get to her--
Except...
"Raines." Lightning's turn to really freeze, somehow even more horrified, as she was once again hit with the realization that she was alone in her knowledge of the events leading up to their stranding on Gran Pulse. Snow's head was messed up too- he didn't remember that even the brigadier general in charge of the scheme to overthrow fal'Cie rule had had his allegiances compromised by force...!
Even as distressed as he was (and getting more so by the second), Snow didn't do anything to fight her or try to maintain his grip. He let his arms fall as she shoved his hands away, gripping both into tight fists now that there was nothing else to hold onto. His face was nothing but grit-toothed anguish, though it was very, very quickly subsiding in the wake of anger. He could feel it rising up in his chest in waves, trying to bury the shock and dismay and every other negative emotion vying for his attention. And that sensation sharpened with her response.
"What do you mean you don't know?!" There was no stopping him yelling by this point, anger and confusion and near panic all mixed into his voice. It really wasn't her he was mad at all. He wasn't accusing her of anything. And he could see she was just as distraught about this whole thing as he was. She had to be. This was her sister after all. But... But he couldn't take this very rationally either! He wasn't capable of being sensitive with his words right now.
And as he was, he only vaguely acknowledged her mentioning Raines's name. He kept forgetting about this whole memory gap thing. That Lightning knew a whole lot more than she should have. She knew about the Calvary and about Raines. She knew that there was no way anyone should have been able to get to Serah without getting through the whole damn fleet. She knew everything. Everything... except what he wanted to know right now!
And that's what he couldn't take! That's what he couldn't stand! How could there be no answers?! How could there be nothing?! Dammit, he didn't care!! He didn't care if there was nothing to go on! If there was no direction to go by, he'd choose one! If there was no way of knowing where she was, he'd find a way! If Serah was in this building and he had to spend the next several days kicking down every damn door and plowing down every person who wanted to get in his way, then that's what he was going to do! There was no time to worry about Raines! There was no time to mourn all the people who'd probably gone down from these people invading! All he cared about right then and there was Serah!
"You said you saw her, right?! Where?! Where did you see her?!" Lightning was lucky that he was still capable of standing there and asking at least that question. Otherwise, he would have turned heel and been out the door already. Which was likely about to happen as soon as she answered that, no matter whether he knew where the location was or not.
And then... just as that question finished coming out of his mouth... a thought suddenly occurred to him. Something he hadn't even entertained until he'd tried to imagine the various locations Serah might have been spotted. There was the issue of where Lightning had seen her, yes. But there was also... a question of how she had seen her. Snow assumed she was talking about the crystal form his wife slumbered in. That Light had seen them transporting her somewhere. But what if he was wrong? What if she was saying she'd seen Serah the same way she'd seen Hope? What if she was saying... Serah had woken up? What if Serah was another prisoner here, same as the two of them, and was out there as they speak wandering the dark hallways... alone?
He obviously wasn't listening to what was coming out of her line of thought there, but... Lightning quickly disregarded it anyway. At that, the woman actually winced, and it was only through years of intoned never drop your weapon that kept her from now doing just that with her flashlight and short sword- after days of taking hit after emotional hit, and now this... she actually felt sick and strangely weak as her hard exterior finally began to shatter under the force of it. She hardly even had time to feel anger at him raising his voice at her!
"I don't know!" she said again, her voice sounding strained. To think she'd thought hearing Serah had been taken into the Vestige had been bad-- knowing that Snow would become even more agitated when he heard what they'd done to her was... somehow, far, far worse. At least then she'd felt like there was something she could do. As confused and desperate as she'd been, and as crazy and suicidal as her plan to rescue her sister had turned out, at least it was something!
Now she was lost. Again, and she had no idea where to even start in explaining what she had seen. Head tilted down, she looked up towards the man but didn't meet his eyes, barely-contained agitation evident in her, so powerfully she might as well have been glowing.
"She... came and visited me." A huff of breath. How was she ever supposed to have expected that the thing they'd hoped for so much would come in the form of something so awful? Never mind trying to outline it...
... Despite that only being half of it, she trailed off there.
There was no immediate reaction. Snow didn't continue yelling and he didn't run out the door as he'd been ready to do only a second ago. Though he'd looked like he was about ready to explode at any moment, face and body and fists all equally tense, that all slowly drained and faded away as those words sank in. In fact he looked a little dazed for a second and moved back just slightly. Serah came... and visited her?
To be perfectly honest, Snow had absolutely no idea what the hell she could even mean by that. This was a Pulse prison, a place where they gathered people up and tried to turn them into an army so they could all go for round two on their attack on Cocoon. It wasn't exactly the kind of place that'd let you get visitors. It didn't make sense at all. And Snow might have realized that himself if he stopped to think about all of those details.
Instead, he was only focused on the most important part, the only part that mattered. Serah was awake. She'd turned back. She was alright!! Just like he knew she would be! And if she had "come and visited," that meant she wasn't a prisoner, right? It meant she had walked in on her own, didn't it? Most of the reason he had been so damn pissed was that he thought these people had taken her. That they were holding her and maybe planned to hurt her. But... none of that was the case! She was alright! She was really alright!
"Ha..." It wasn't so much a laugh as it was an audibly happy exhale. He couldn't have fought the smile spreading over his face even if he wanted to. This was... this was amazing! Yeah, it didn't change too much in the end. I mean, he still had to find her. But that was beside the point! "So she's alright. She came back...."
He looked back to Lightning with a new determination, grinning ear to ear and almost ready to grab her again. "Don't worry. We'll find her. Alright?! We'll find her right now!"
He was saying this as a reassurance. Because he didn't get why Lightning still making that face. What was she so upset about? Wasn't this wonderful?! Wasn't it amazing?! Her sister was back! She should be happy! All they had to do was find out where she was! And that was simple. Didn't she see? Everything was going to be just fine!!
No, Lightning definitely wasn't sharing the tall l'Cie's enthusiasm. As dark as it was in Snow's little assigned room, as soon as his mood picked up, as soon as that stupid smile spread across the man's stupid face, Lightning's vision suddenly became tinted in shades of red. Her eyes narrowed, her body tensed, and the aimed a glare up at the man so intense that, if the static electricity in the immediate area didn't suddenly increase tenfold, that in itself was a miracle.
And while even she would have admitted, albeit reluctantly, that she was no longer the person who used bursts of violence to serve her anger- the woman who had screamed at, punched, and held a blade to Snow's throat on several occasions... under the stress of the situation, knowing that it wasn't okay...
Her arm suddenly snapped out to the side, almost faster than it should have seemed possible, and with a CRACK the heavy flashlight that had been in her hand hit the wall. The beam swooped around the room crazily, flickered... but then amazingly, held once it had bounced off and hit the floor. However, the erratic illumination it provided then, of a woman who was just barely keeping herself from throwing her now-free fist towards the man and his jarring sense of optimism, was... probably not as good as it could have been.
"No!"
As if her point needed any more emphasizing, she shook her head, lifting and holding a clenched hand to her chest. It was entirely possible to see the emotions on her face race up and down in intensity, her mind replaying in fast-forward the bizarre things her sister had said to her during that all-too-short visit at the front of the building. When she spoke, it was as if every word was being forcefully torn out of her-
Random, late note to any stalkers, but don't read this thread if you don't want spoilersheroesdontshaveAugust 24 2011, 02:45:58 UTC
Instinctively, Snow followed the movement. He snapped his head to turn and follow the lighting device as it was suddenly thrown against the wall and to the floor, surprise on his face, before turning back to face Light. A very angry-looking Light. He'd wanted to make her feel better, but it looked like she'd just gotten several times worse.
He didn't flinch from the action, nor did he back away or do anything other than stare at her in quiet, shocked confusion. But he did tense just slightly at the look she was giving him, at the tight fist she had balled and ready, prepared to take the hit he felt was probably coming. Only it never did come.
Instead, she spoke agonized words that carried such a pained weight with them, he almost felt like he'd been hit anyway. And again, he just couldn't understand. He didn't understand what it was she was trying to say other than that it was something bad.
"Not... herself?" he repeated, obviously confused. What could she mean by that? If Fang and Vanille were any indication, people were supposed to come out of crystal stasis exactly the same as when they had been before. At worst, Serah might end up with her Brand permanently burned onto her arm like Fang, but it was a small price to pay in exchange. It was the case for them, so it had to be for her, right? How could she be any different?
"She wouldn't call me by name," Lightning said slowly - now that she'd finally gotten started the words were coming out, though no less painful, and she hardly moved at all except to breathe in. Her narrowed stare dropped to the floor. "She kept using that name the nurses used to use." A short, jerky gesture, like she was indicating the hang of a necklace. "The one on all the stuff we're given here."
And another pause after that, during which the woman might have actually shook if... she'd been someone else. Now, she just ducked her head again, gritting her teeth as she tried to corral her hyperactive thoughts. Yes, she'd been tricked before by this place, particularly in the case of that weird shadowy doppelganger that had taunted her during the time she'd explored the outside of the building with Gambit, but...
But this was a matter of recognizing her little sister; there really wasn't any room for questioning it. No way. They'd shown they could mess with minds, but she was absolutely certain that that wasn't a matter in which she could be fooled, no matter what they did.
"It was her, Snow, but... I don't think she remembers anything."
Snow frowned a little as she spoke. Not angry; just focused on her words. Serah had come here willingly, not as a prisoner... if he was understanding this right. She had come to "visit." But when she came here... she hadn't called Lightning by her name. She called her something completely different. She called her...
Snow moved his eyes down to the marked necklace Lightning was wearing when she indicated it. Then he looked down to his own. It was too dark in here to read it properly, but he already knew what was on it. Davidson. The thing the staff had called him all the time. He'd thought it was a mistake at first, but they really did seem like just fake, new names they were giving them. Maybe it was a Pulse thing. They were part of a new army, a new side, so they were given new names. And maybe if they were called it enough, they'd forget their old names and their old lives on Cocoon or something. Who knew? Like he got military logic.
But the point was Serah had used that name. She didn't remember. So was that supposed to mean... that he was right about that military strategy after all? And that that was what had happened to Serah? That she didn't remember her old self and her old life? That she only remembered new names? And... wait, if that was true, then that meant that...!
He looked up at Lightning with realization. He was finally understanding what it was she might have been saying. "She doesn't remember. ...So you mean... they did something to her. They did something to her memories! That's it, isn't it?!"
It made sense! They'd done it to him, hadn't they? They'd messed with his memories and he couldn't remember a bunch of stuff that had happened. It was like the same thing but different. Because she still remembered enough to want to visit Lightning, right? So she must have remembered her to some degree. It was just that what she remembered was all wrong!! They'd done something to her!!
They had to find her!! There must have been a way to get her memories back. There definitely had to be. It's not like something like this was impossible to reverse or cure or something. Between both him and Light, they'd be able to get her back to normal in no time. They just had to find her first!
Snow actually wasn't the sort of guy who slept in. Sitting around and doing nothing in particular was something he hated. Unless you were doing nothing with other people. Like, him and Serah? They could just sit on the beach doing nothing all day and that would be just fine with him. He remembered doing nothing with Gadot and Lebreau when they were all kids, too. Just wandering. Not going anywhere. Not doing anything. Like a bunch of stray cats.
For some reason, this thought is what he grasped onto and what started dragging him from sleep. Cats. NORA. .... He blinked. Then all of a sudden he was awake, sitting straight up in his bed. What was he... doing? How did he get back back here? Wasn't he just...? He put a hand on his chest, where this horrible pain was lingering. It was like someone had taken something really hot and slammed him in the chest with it. Both a burn and a bruise in one, it felt like. Not unbearable, nothing he couldn't handle, but bad anyway.
He blinked around the pitch black room, trying to get his eyes to adjust to the dark and figure out what the hell had just happened.
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Any relative peace that Snow was experiencing there in the darkness... was abruptly shattered with the arrival of one very agitated fellow l'Cie.
As always, the quick thumping of her footsteps was probably the first warning, but this time it was also the only warning before the sound of the woman slamming herself right into the door echoed through the room and down the hall. He had better regain his bearings quick; she didn't have time or the patience for much else.
"Snow!! Open the door!" In other words, if he wasn't there to do so, she was fully intent on kicking the thing down. Panting with exertion from the full-on sprint she'd done from her own room to his, she whacked her lighting device on the wooden barrier for effect.
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He still hadn't completely grasped exactly how he'd wound up back at the room, so getting one more confusing thing thrown in his face wasn't exactly making things better. Not that he really cared about standing around and wondering about it. A mix of confusion, adrenaline, and concern due to Lightning's tone was enough to cast all else out of his mind and make him react solely on instinct. He rushed forward immediately without question and threw open the door, half ready to run out and deal with whatever Light might be yelling out to him for. Maybe something had been chasing her.
"What's going on?!" he yelled back, half in alarm and half due to just... not being capable of keeping a calm rational voice at the moment.
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"Where have you been?"
And taking it out on him at least a little was easy. It wasn't unusual - or hadn't been unusual once - for Lightning's temper to turn dangerously powerful once it found reason to flare up. When she'd been turned into a l'Cie that tendency had heightened for sure... but then again, it had then definitely leveled out. It seemed that the more her power increased, the more reasons she was presented with to take stock in being cunning but rational.
This wasn't even anything like that 'regular' fury, though. If nothing else, it was about as close to outright panic as she'd gotten in years, and the fact that she was still in the 'patient' clothing, hadn't touched her hair, and was now staring at Snow with her pale eyes wide only accentuated that. Her outbursts were typically short-lived. This one was obviously persisting.
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Lightning pushed him backward and she moved forward and into the room, making him stumble a step before going along with it. He stayed staring at her the whole time with a blank sort of surprise as he tried to understand why she was so upset. Well... Okay, it's not like it was the first time she'd ever gotten mad out of the blue, but that didn't mean he should just accept it as is, right?
He blinked a bit as that question registered. Where... had he been? He didn't really understand. Yeah, he understood the question, but he didn't know why she was asking something like that or why she sounded so angry about it. "Uh. Right... here. Why?"
There was a good chance he sounded about as confused as he was feeling. He had the distinct feeling that he was kind of missing something here. What the hell was going on? Why was Light all worked up? And what was she talking about?
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"I haven't seen you since we were in the town-- that was a day ago. Since then-- we were supposed to check up, Snow!" Never mind that that was a lot of her fault too that it hadn't happened, considering her prolonged distraction upon discovering Hope in such a messed up state. Her first priority had been trying to find him again, not seeking out her sister's fiance...!
And abruptly, she almost seemed to deflate, letting out a heavy breath and lifting a hand to touch fingertips to her brow. Slowly, she shook her head again before glancing up and away. Hope was one thing- the teen was like her little brother by now, and to see him so confused, trying to push her away, and then taken from her again...? It stung harder than just about anything.
Except for what she'd seen earlier that day-- or at least what she assumed was earlier in the day. As far as she knew she could have been out for quite a while as well...
Serah...
"I saw Hope," she admitted, voice low, and then with her teeth grit, started next on the words she knew would hit him roughly five hundred times harder- "...And Serah. Snow--" She hesitated just a second, distress practically flowing out of her. "Serah is here."
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But this kind of distress was really off putting to see on her. It was similar to the mix of rage and dismay he'd seen on her back in the Vestige. And it wasn't anything he wanted to see a second time. Once had been enough. Should he apologize? Sorry for worrying you? Sorry, I didn't realize I was unconscious that long? What was he really supposed to say here? Unsure regarding the answer to that, he awkwardly looked at her as she continued, glancing to her, away, and back in uncertainty until she mentioned Hope.
That was unexpected. The kid who'd been wandering the Pulse Vestige with Vanille, right? They'd managed to snatch him and throw him in here, too? Honestly, Snow had been distracted, thinking about getting everyone out of this place, but he'd been hopeful that everyone else was still out there and keeping themselves safe. But then Sis had showed up here. And now Hope. And...
Snow froze. Completely. As soon as that name came out of Lightning's mouth. For a second he thought maybe he was misunderstanding what she was trying to say, but she clarified immediately. He was dead silent while his heart tried to figure out how to keep beating now that it'd somehow jammed itself into his throat. Serah... Serah was... here?
"Wh... What do you mean?!" Without thinking he'd stepped forward and grabbed both her shoulders. He could have shaken her. He could have yelled. ...More than he already was already, anyhow. "What do you mean she's here?!"
It was impossible! He didn't want to believe it. Raines was supposed to be taking care of her! She was supposed to be held in a secure chamber on the Lindblum, where no one and nothing would so much as breathe on her until she finally woke back up from her sleep. There should have been no way to get to her without getting through every single member of the fleet's crew while they were at it.
...Then again, shouldn't the same have been for him? He was on that ship, too. But he'd wound up here. How could he have not realized?! How could he have not noticed?! They took her. They took her!!
"Where is she?!" He probably looked as frantic as she was looking. Maybe more. If they had done anything to her....
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"I don't know!" her voice rose while she stepped back, and she made like she was about to say more, but then... just froze up instead. If she'd thought the weight of emotion was heavy on her before, now her guilt was so strong it was suffocating. Why had she let her sister get away from her?? She could barely even think right, and even with her mind trying its best to race through her options despite that, she didn't have a solution. The easiest answer - to get out and save her sister - was also the hardest.
She was well aware of where Serah was supposed to be- the fact that she was here was impossible and she knew that. They would have had to go through the Cavalry to get to her--
Except...
"Raines." Lightning's turn to really freeze, somehow even more horrified, as she was once again hit with the realization that she was alone in her knowledge of the events leading up to their stranding on Gran Pulse. Snow's head was messed up too- he didn't remember that even the brigadier general in charge of the scheme to overthrow fal'Cie rule had had his allegiances compromised by force...!
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"What do you mean you don't know?!" There was no stopping him yelling by this point, anger and confusion and near panic all mixed into his voice. It really wasn't her he was mad at all. He wasn't accusing her of anything. And he could see she was just as distraught about this whole thing as he was. She had to be. This was her sister after all. But... But he couldn't take this very rationally either! He wasn't capable of being sensitive with his words right now.
And as he was, he only vaguely acknowledged her mentioning Raines's name. He kept forgetting about this whole memory gap thing. That Lightning knew a whole lot more than she should have. She knew about the Calvary and about Raines. She knew that there was no way anyone should have been able to get to Serah without getting through the whole damn fleet. She knew everything. Everything... except what he wanted to know right now!
And that's what he couldn't take! That's what he couldn't stand! How could there be no answers?! How could there be nothing?! Dammit, he didn't care!! He didn't care if there was nothing to go on! If there was no direction to go by, he'd choose one! If there was no way of knowing where she was, he'd find a way! If Serah was in this building and he had to spend the next several days kicking down every damn door and plowing down every person who wanted to get in his way, then that's what he was going to do! There was no time to worry about Raines! There was no time to mourn all the people who'd probably gone down from these people invading! All he cared about right then and there was Serah!
"You said you saw her, right?! Where?! Where did you see her?!" Lightning was lucky that he was still capable of standing there and asking at least that question. Otherwise, he would have turned heel and been out the door already. Which was likely about to happen as soon as she answered that, no matter whether he knew where the location was or not.
And then... just as that question finished coming out of his mouth... a thought suddenly occurred to him. Something he hadn't even entertained until he'd tried to imagine the various locations Serah might have been spotted. There was the issue of where Lightning had seen her, yes. But there was also... a question of how she had seen her. Snow assumed she was talking about the crystal form his wife slumbered in. That Light had seen them transporting her somewhere. But what if he was wrong? What if she was saying she'd seen Serah the same way she'd seen Hope? What if she was saying... Serah had woken up? What if Serah was another prisoner here, same as the two of them, and was out there as they speak wandering the dark hallways... alone?
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"I don't know!" she said again, her voice sounding strained. To think she'd thought hearing Serah had been taken into the Vestige had been bad-- knowing that Snow would become even more agitated when he heard what they'd done to her was... somehow, far, far worse. At least then she'd felt like there was something she could do. As confused and desperate as she'd been, and as crazy and suicidal as her plan to rescue her sister had turned out, at least it was something!
Now she was lost. Again, and she had no idea where to even start in explaining what she had seen. Head tilted down, she looked up towards the man but didn't meet his eyes, barely-contained agitation evident in her, so powerfully she might as well have been glowing.
"She... came and visited me." A huff of breath. How was she ever supposed to have expected that the thing they'd hoped for so much would come in the form of something so awful? Never mind trying to outline it...
... Despite that only being half of it, she trailed off there.
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To be perfectly honest, Snow had absolutely no idea what the hell she could even mean by that. This was a Pulse prison, a place where they gathered people up and tried to turn them into an army so they could all go for round two on their attack on Cocoon. It wasn't exactly the kind of place that'd let you get visitors. It didn't make sense at all. And Snow might have realized that himself if he stopped to think about all of those details.
Instead, he was only focused on the most important part, the only part that mattered. Serah was awake. She'd turned back. She was alright!! Just like he knew she would be! And if she had "come and visited," that meant she wasn't a prisoner, right? It meant she had walked in on her own, didn't it? Most of the reason he had been so damn pissed was that he thought these people had taken her. That they were holding her and maybe planned to hurt her. But... none of that was the case! She was alright! She was really alright!
"Ha..." It wasn't so much a laugh as it was an audibly happy exhale. He couldn't have fought the smile spreading over his face even if he wanted to. This was... this was amazing! Yeah, it didn't change too much in the end. I mean, he still had to find her. But that was beside the point! "So she's alright. She came back...."
He looked back to Lightning with a new determination, grinning ear to ear and almost ready to grab her again. "Don't worry. We'll find her. Alright?! We'll find her right now!"
He was saying this as a reassurance. Because he didn't get why Lightning still making that face. What was she so upset about? Wasn't this wonderful?! Wasn't it amazing?! Her sister was back! She should be happy! All they had to do was find out where she was! And that was simple. Didn't she see? Everything was going to be just fine!!
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And while even she would have admitted, albeit reluctantly, that she was no longer the person who used bursts of violence to serve her anger- the woman who had screamed at, punched, and held a blade to Snow's throat on several occasions... under the stress of the situation, knowing that it wasn't okay...
Her arm suddenly snapped out to the side, almost faster than it should have seemed possible, and with a CRACK the heavy flashlight that had been in her hand hit the wall. The beam swooped around the room crazily, flickered... but then amazingly, held once it had bounced off and hit the floor. However, the erratic illumination it provided then, of a woman who was just barely keeping herself from throwing her now-free fist towards the man and his jarring sense of optimism, was... probably not as good as it could have been.
"No!"
As if her point needed any more emphasizing, she shook her head, lifting and holding a clenched hand to her chest. It was entirely possible to see the emotions on her face race up and down in intensity, her mind replaying in fast-forward the bizarre things her sister had said to her during that all-too-short visit at the front of the building. When she spoke, it was as if every word was being forcefully torn out of her-
"She's back, but she's... she's not herself."
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He didn't flinch from the action, nor did he back away or do anything other than stare at her in quiet, shocked confusion. But he did tense just slightly at the look she was giving him, at the tight fist she had balled and ready, prepared to take the hit he felt was probably coming. Only it never did come.
Instead, she spoke agonized words that carried such a pained weight with them, he almost felt like he'd been hit anyway. And again, he just couldn't understand. He didn't understand what it was she was trying to say other than that it was something bad.
"Not... herself?" he repeated, obviously confused. What could she mean by that? If Fang and Vanille were any indication, people were supposed to come out of crystal stasis exactly the same as when they had been before. At worst, Serah might end up with her Brand permanently burned onto her arm like Fang, but it was a small price to pay in exchange. It was the case for them, so it had to be for her, right? How could she be any different?
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And another pause after that, during which the woman might have actually shook if... she'd been someone else. Now, she just ducked her head again, gritting her teeth as she tried to corral her hyperactive thoughts. Yes, she'd been tricked before by this place, particularly in the case of that weird shadowy doppelganger that had taunted her during the time she'd explored the outside of the building with Gambit, but...
But this was a matter of recognizing her little sister; there really wasn't any room for questioning it. No way. They'd shown they could mess with minds, but she was absolutely certain that that wasn't a matter in which she could be fooled, no matter what they did.
"It was her, Snow, but... I don't think she remembers anything."
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Snow moved his eyes down to the marked necklace Lightning was wearing when she indicated it. Then he looked down to his own. It was too dark in here to read it properly, but he already knew what was on it. Davidson. The thing the staff had called him all the time. He'd thought it was a mistake at first, but they really did seem like just fake, new names they were giving them. Maybe it was a Pulse thing. They were part of a new army, a new side, so they were given new names. And maybe if they were called it enough, they'd forget their old names and their old lives on Cocoon or something. Who knew? Like he got military logic.
But the point was Serah had used that name. She didn't remember. So was that supposed to mean... that he was right about that military strategy after all? And that that was what had happened to Serah? That she didn't remember her old self and her old life? That she only remembered new names? And... wait, if that was true, then that meant that...!
He looked up at Lightning with realization. He was finally understanding what it was she might have been saying. "She doesn't remember. ...So you mean... they did something to her. They did something to her memories! That's it, isn't it?!"
It made sense! They'd done it to him, hadn't they? They'd messed with his memories and he couldn't remember a bunch of stuff that had happened. It was like the same thing but different. Because she still remembered enough to want to visit Lightning, right? So she must have remembered her to some degree. It was just that what she remembered was all wrong!! They'd done something to her!!
They had to find her!! There must have been a way to get her memories back. There definitely had to be. It's not like something like this was impossible to reverse or cure or something. Between both him and Light, they'd be able to get her back to normal in no time. They just had to find her first!
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