Day 40: Greenhouse
Yuffie was in two minds about how the 'meeting' with Orangello had gone. No, scratch that; two was way too small a number. Maybe four? Or five, no, make it six. Maybe. The only thing she knew for sure was that something had to give, and it sure wasn't going to be her. Whether or not she actually joined up with anybody was irrelevant, as long as she
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"I haven't seen too many monsters either. Last night was the first one, actually--I can't even describe it, some kind of big creature with a bladed tail and two sets of teeth in a strange skull--" And that was about as much as she'd been able to pick out, in that light. She'd been a little more preoccupied with not getting killed.
Actually, Senna's suggestion was right up her alley. "Is that the Arts and Crafts club? I've been thinking about joining one of the clubs, actually, but I'm not sure what yours does." Meche wasn't sure she trusted herself to be all that useful until her right side healed a little better, but after that, she'd probably be an okay addition. The more people they had, the better, right?
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Senna crinkled her nose in thought. She really couldn't think of anything to do other than search... "Well, I think you should keep looking. There's always some place you might have missed. And who said he's being kept prisoner? I haven't heard of that happening to anyone else." Her frown deepened a little before loosening completely. "Well, damn. I haven't seen anything other than the virgin-eating birds." She shrugged. "Guess I'm lucky."
She smiled, giving a nod. "Yep! A&C. It's ran by some people from where I'm from--the Shinigami I told you about. I don't know everything about it, but we're trying to figure out this place and protect the people here that can't. Anything else you could probably ask." Senna tilted her head slightly. "But I trust them. I know they have everybody's best interests at heart. And if you join," she added sing-song, grinning. "You wouldn't be alone to get hurt like that. It'd be fun...."
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She pulled another sucker off the tomato plant and turned it over in her fingertips, thinking. "You know, it doesn't sound like a bad idea. Maybe I will join. All I have to do is sign up on the bulletin board, right?" Privately, she had her doubts about whether club membership would've done much to protect her against that monster, but having a partner who could fight wouldn't be a bad thing at all, especially until she got better. And protecting the weak was admittedly just the kind of language that was likely to draw her in.
Abruptly, her train of thought cut off as her brain actually processed something else Senna had said. Or really, something Meche thought Senna had said, because obviously she must have heard wrong. "Virgin-eating birds?"
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She nodded, then. "Yep! Nothing's permanent so don't worry about having all work and no fun all the time. Hell, I take days off, and I think I'm one of their officers or something." She didn't know. What did it mean when Momo put her in charge last night? Something. Maybe nothing. She couldn't dream to know.
Meche's response was hilarious, though, and Senna laughed outright, putting a hand on Meche's shoulder and leaning against it. When her laugher slowed, she looked up. "You know, everyone seems to have that same reaction the first time they hear it."
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And if she'd been surprised by Senna's statement, the way Senna was reacting now was even stranger. Well, she guessed the idea of virgin-eating birds was pretty ridiculous when you thought about it. Was it some kind of prank? Senna seemed pretty serious about it, actually. "Wait, you're not kidding?" Meche asked. "There really are birds here that eat virgins? And I thought I'd seen everything." Good thing she--well. But did it still count if you died and came back to life again? Was this some kind of reincarnation thing?
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Her grin widened. "Nope, not kidding! There's these gigantic birds right outside that target virgins. Which sucks," she added, frowning a little now. "Since when I saw them, they were going after a group of little kids."
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"So is that what A&C does?" she asked. "Protect people from killer birds?" What were you supposed to do, shoot them? Feed them poisoned bird feed? Meche wondered if she wasn't getting in over her head here.
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Shit.
She blinked quickly, trying to maintain her upbeat air. "No, nothing like that. Even if we did, they'd just come back the next night, and nothing would get accomplished. I think we're training up the people that need it, and trying to find ways to figure things out here." She lifted a finger. "Like that ghost town. There's something in all of that. I just know it. And once we do... we'll be able to help people escape this place, and go home."
Or something along those lines. She needed a briefing from the chief.
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There wasn't much chance of getting the sproutella gun back, after all; she definitely hadn't seen anyone else with a weapon like that. Didn't a lot of people have swords? Maybe she could learn to use one of those, or even a scythe. Boy, she'd love to see the look on Manny's face when he came back to see her wielding a scythe like a pro. She might even be pretty good at it--she had some height on him.
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The nurses trickling in warned Senna that the time in this place was coming to a close. She looked off, watching the miscellenous plants for a moment. "Hey... Can I ask you something?" She scratched the side of her hands resting in her lap. She had presented this question to Hokuto, but she knew what the girl would say. Their situations had been almost identical, if on a different scale. Here, would be her unknown. "This place... What do you think of it in regards to yourself?"
The real question that she wouldn't voice: Do you think of it as a second chance?
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The nurses were starting to pick their way through the aisles; she'd only de-suckered three plants all morning. Oh, well, good conversation was worth it. They must have someone else to take care of all these when the patients weren't working in the greenhouse. She was taken aback by Senna's sudden question--obviously it was something the girl had been waiting to ask.
"At first I thought it was the afterlife," she replied slowly, collecting her thoughts. "I don't believe that anymore. I think my afterlife--and not just mine--was stolen by someone, probably more because he wanted something out of my friend than because of anything about me. Or it could be that we were sent here somehow to stop it--I know that sounds crazy, but it wouldn't be the first time we've done something like that. Either way, I'm here now, and I think it's my job to help shut it down."
She smiled, a little embarrassed by her own grandstanding. "Sorry, that might have been more than you bargained for. Did I answer your question?"
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Meche's answer took Senna in a direction she hadn't touched on before. "I think it's my job to help shut it down." Something much like meant to be. Everything in her was not supposed to exist, but Meche's statement made Senna think in a new way for the first time. Maybe she was supposed to come here. Maybe she had something that could help. Maybe she had meaning.
She blinked, dazed, barely noticing when the nurses arrived beside them. She looked up at Meche. "Yeah," she said softly. "Yeah, you did."
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