Day 52: Lunch

[purpletaint]

[from here]It was a race. A fight against patience and a Song's call. Still, the sedation's dredges churned through him. Two close at hand had a potent effect--much like the night that they were left in that town, and the morning after. Rubedo had came then. Came for them like something out of place, and wasn't that so ironic afterwards--when

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[thestormishere]

Lightning blinked as well, her eyes quickly narrowing in agitation. At least it seemed she didn't have to concern herself about him that much. He was as... himself as ever, apparently. She slid into the seat next to him after a moment, looking up at his face, down at the bizarre food laid out in front of him, and back. The sight of the stuff and the strong smell of it put her off just like the previous 'meal' had, even as she was busy instead trying to decipher Snow's response. It appeared one of the lingering symptoms of being drugged was a lagged train of thought. Terrific.

"Been better," she decided on, clipping the statement short, so that it lead into a heavy pause while she pressed her lips together and lowered her chin. What sort of question was she supposed to start with in a situation like this? She had absolutely no idea about the discrepancy between what they both remembered as being most recent, naturally- the last she knew, they and the four other Pulse l'Cie had just landed on the surface of the huge, utterly untamed world of Gran Pulse itself. Why Snow seemed so unaffected over the fact that they were now being held in what had to be a Pulsian prison of some kind was... strange, to say the least. Even for him, somehow.

She had to wonder, did he know something she didn't?

"This... prison," she started, her entire body rapidly tensing. "How long have we been here?" With the bed-bearing rooms, the way she'd been treated so far, and how she couldn't remember anything indicating being captured... all that put along with the nature of the first thing out of Snow's mouth... she already figured that it was entirely possible that it had been longer since leaving Cocoon than she thought.

[heroesdontshave]

"Perceptive" was definitely not a word one would use to describe Snow, but even he could tell there was something a little strange going on with Lightning. She wasn't really one to pause like that before responding. Maybe she was distracted. Then again, there was something about her that always seemed distracted. It was probably some side effect of being a soldier. You know, always paying attention to a million other things going on around you. Or something. He wouldn't really know.

Looking at her, she definitely looked like she was on high alert. He on the other hand, was just kind of... sitting there. He may have only been there a day or so, but he knew the guards weren't the "sneak up behind you" type. And they weren't armed. So as long as they kept to their posts while patrolling the room, there really wasn't anything to worry about.

Thing was, there was something strange about her question, too. Cause, um... shouldn't she know how long she'd been here? Or was she implying they'd been out for a while before waking up? No, somehow it still clicked as a strange thing to ask. "Few days, I guess. Woke up about two days ago, maybe." That's when the context of the question finally clicked. "Wait. Did you just wake up?"

It felt like bit of a long shot, but there was no way she'd been brought in before he had. He'd have definitely noticed, and there was no way she would have let herself get caught that fast. Then again, he would think there was no way she'd let herself get caught at all, but here she was.

[thestormishere]

Two days?! So either Lightning had been entirely unconscious for at least that long, or she was outright missing those memories of the time between now and landing on Gran Pulse, their mysterious capture lying somewhere in between. The latter didn't seem quite right though... Snow almost made it sound like they hadn't been taken in together- that is, if she also read into that first comment of "you made it" as "you're still alive." What had happened that would make him think she wasn't okay?

"Last night," she confirmed, her expression twisting as if the answer left a bitter taste in her mouth. Admitting a potential weakness wasn't something she found easy under any circumstance, and so the question she wanted to ask immediately afterward came only after another tense beat of irritation and a glance around to ensure nobody else seemed to be listening in on them.

"Do you remember being caught?" Frowning, the young woman glared up at the man steadily, as if daring him to make a big deal out of her shortcomings here. For that matter, she didn't really want him to ask why it had taken her until now to find him, because she certainly didn't want to explain how she'd been overpowered so effortlessly by the random, weak-looking guards surrounding the crowd of tired-looking people around them.

[heroesdontshave]

Okay. You know what? He was really not liking these long pauses she was giving him. It was was like she was trying to make him nervous or something. Not that she was succeeding or anything. No, Snow knew she was just nervous herself was all. It was understandable, right? A Sanctum holding cell wasn't exactly the happiest place to be, especially if anyone figured out they were actual l'Cie rather than just people who'd had potential contact. Still, he wished she wouldn't worry so much. It's not like they were going to stay stuck in this place forever.

On the other hand, with that question and that look following the pause, he was now wondering if maybe she wasn't so much nervous as she was irritated about him having gotten caught. Not like there was much he could really do about it now. Still, he broke eye contact with her for a moment like maybe he was thinking over the answer.

"'Fraid not. Just woke up here the other night with this guy going on about monsters and everything." He pulled his eyes away from her completely now to look around the cafeteria, though not anywhere near as cautiously as Lightning had been. Just looking around at the oblivious people going on about their business. "From what I hear, lotta people just got thrown in here and don't know what's goin' on. All just know whatever they're bein' fed."

That last bit wasn't exactly shocking. That was how the Sanctum liked doing things, it seemed: make a big speech about helping people out, then turn around and get rid of everyone. It was The Purge all over again. Same spiel, different name. It was sickening, already.

[thestormishere]

Well, that was a disappointment. One of the only parts worth much notice was the mention of monsters- if that was true, it put a little more weight into Neku's claim about not being able to escape. Lightning could buy even Pulse natives being wary of beasts if they weren't trained or l'Cie... or even if they were, depending on how tough the creatures were. Of course, considering Pulsians being normal was still somewhat strange, after growing up in the land that considered anything from outside to be its well-supplied mortal foe, but no matter....

That wasn't what concerned her much. Even Cocoon had monsters, and really, both she and Snow at least had been dealing with them before the whole l'Cie scare had begun (if under different... 'organizations,' though that was a source of irritation for another time). The way random people were being rounded up and put in here, though?

"Why would they do that...?" she asked, mostly to herself. That was the real mystery, wasn't it? What was happening with Gran Pulse that would make them consider that kind of undertaking? Naturally, one of her first guesses was some sort of precautionary measure against people 'invading,' in much the same way the Purge had happened due to fear of Pulsian forces influencing Cocoon... but that didn't seem right either. Foremost, Lightning had woken up in strange clothing- it seemed certain that although she made sure to always keep it hidden, if she were changed by someone else they would have most likely seen that mark branding her as an unwilling servant of a Pulse fal'Cie. Someone like her wouldn't be considered the enemy here... right?

And yet there was another thought too, slowly coming up in the back of her mind... something about another person who'd woken up in an unknown place, lacking a strangely specific range of memories. What if... this was something similar?

Abruptly she looked back from studying the other prisoners, not even realizing that in the moments she'd spent thinking about it all, she'd once more positioned a hand on her own chest, over the hated mark that lied beneath the rough grey and yellow shirt. "Show me your Brand," she ordered, though her eyes were already down and beginning to search for it. Only then did it occur to her that Snow... didn't seem to be wearing anything that would serve to hide his at all.

[heroesdontshave]

Yeah, that was the mystery. Why round everyone up and throw them in here rather than just taking them down on sight? It might have had something to do with them not being sure which of them were really l'Cie and which weren't, but he knew that wasn't the real truth. l'Cie or not, everyone was equally expendable in the Sanctum's eyes. So what was the point in throwing them all in there? Snow had a pretty good idea from what fragments he'd gathered here and there. The "why" was still up in the air, but in the end, did reasons really matter?

Lightning didn't know, though. Or at least, he was pretty sure she didn't. She had no clue what it was they were doing here. It was similar to a Purge campaign, yeah, but really different all the same. She needed to know. When he opened his mouth to tell her, though, she barked out an order to show her his Brand. He blinked at her, obviously puzzled.

"Wh- Huh?" His Brand? What did that matter? He looked down at it, like that would somehow provide an answer, before clenching his fist and simply holding his arm up in front of him, forearm facing out to reveal the mark there. It had changed slightly since he first got it, but he hadn't really paid attention enough to it to notice.

He stayed holding it there in front of him as he tried to sort his thoughts. How... was he supposed to explain what it was this place was doing to people? It wasn't that it was unbelievable or anything, cause like hell would he doubt the Sanctum was capable of pulling something sick like this. But that didn't make it any easier to think of words to express it. "Um. Listen..."

[thestormishere]

Whatever Snow was meaning to say after that would... definitely have to wait. The instant Lightning saw the Brand on his arm, almost everything that she'd been dwelling on before was suddenly and utterly thrown out. That was not at all what she was expecting to see, and shocked, she immediately lashed out, grabbing hold of the man's arm and restraining it there as she stared.

It wasn't as if Lightning spent much time staring at the stupid things- if nothing else, it could be said she tended to avoid it. However, she knew perfectly well the general level to which Snow's should have been at... it had been a definite concern of hers that all of them with active Brands were getting alarmingly close to the final stages Fang had described. But the one in front of her now didn't seem that much farther than one on someone who was totally new to being turned l'Cie... it didn't even have any red in it at all.

She'd never heard of a Brand progressing backward. Ever. It wasn't supposed to be possible.

"What-- how did this happen?" she demanded, not quite able to keep her voice from rising in surprise. On one hand, if there was a way to revert a l'Cie's mark to a previous stage, then that... that was amazing. Hadn't they planned to search Gran Pulse for a way to remove them? This wasn't a complete removal of course, but it something that just maybe she could put a little hope into. On the other, she was annoyed that she'd spent any amount of time not knowing about this. She hadn't yet had the chance to look at her own... was it the same way?

[heroesdontshave]

That was definitely enough to cut his words off. Before he had any time to react, Lightning reached out and snatched his arm to stare fiercely at it. He made a brief, surprised noise, like he was a second away from yelling "Hey!" He didn't actually say anything, though. He just froze, trying to keep himself still as it seemed that was what Lightning was trying to do: Keep him from moving. ...Not that he had been waving his arm around or anything that required restraint, but you know what? Not gonna argue. Instead, he frowned slightly, baffled by the expression on Light's face.

"How did... what happen?" She couldn't be asking how the Brand itself happened, could she? Did they hit her head or something when they brought her in? What was the matter with her?

[thestormishere]

"This!" Lightning retorted, her voice quieter but no less on edge in tone. Finally she pushed his arm down so that it was between them, indicating the mark with a jerk of her chin before finally letting go. "It's gone back, Snow!" She'd just seen him look right at it... had he seriously not noticed? Her annoyance swelled, though the irritation at him not seeming to have had it covered - and confusion as to why that hadn't been a problem yet - was more belated.

Of course, once the moment of shock at seeing the stunted Brand had worn off, in set the concern about making a spectacle of themselves instead. She'd been trying to keep an eye on the people around them, but when she spotted the guard-woman who'd been accompanying her all day once more approaching, a mere second or two after she'd been pointing out Anima's signature on Snow's skin, she had to suppress a flash of reaction at potentially being caught.

She hissed under her breath, but didn't back off entirely in the interest of not seeming any more suspicious- no sudden jumping back or rushing to cover what they'd been looking at here. Throwing Snow another stern glance, she hoped he'd gather up just enough sense to catch the hint, before turning a particularly bland expression toward the woman... making sure that it would be difficult to tell she was once more going over the pros and cons of attempting escape right then.

"Elysia...? Catching up, are we?" The woman, tray in hand, seemed to pause, as if there was something about that fact that bothered her.

[heroesdontshave]

He blinked at her a moment, looked down at the mark on his arm, then back up at her again, still obviously lost. What was she talking about? It's gone back? What's gone back? His Brand was right there where it had always been. Nothing had really changed. But whatever Light was trying to tell him seemed very important. She might have a tendency to get mad pretty quick, but she definitely didn't get distressed like this over nothing.

He was about to ask her again what she meant when he noticed her attention had shifted slightly. She managed to shoot him a quick look before he finally noticed what the problem was. One of the nurse-guards. She was making her way right over to them both. Snow clenched his fists as he watched her approach. Definitely not good. The patrol must've noticed the Brand he was waving around. They'd be after him then. Light, too, but only cause she'd touched him. It would really be him they'd want. And he was fine with that. He'd keep the attention aaall on him. If they wanted to press their luck trying to take him down twice, he was more than willing to--

"Elysia...? Catching up, are we?"

--stare in complete confusion. The woman... had come for Lightning? Not him? Actually, she didn't look like she was making any move to take either of them in. She looked pretty oblivious. Could she have just not noticed and was checking in on them? Heh. How was that for luck?

Snow relaxed. Hey, if all they had to do was fake them out a little to keep them from noticing them right away, he could try doing that. Plus, they needed to get rid of her if they wanted to continue their talk. He wasn't really all that great with subtly... or lying... but he could act all composed and crap if he wanted. Yeah. So despite the approach, Snow gave the nurse-guard a big, awkward grin with only half his mouth. "Yup. Just catchin' up on old times. Telling stories. Hanging out. Nothing to worry about or anything. Right, Sis?"

[thestormishere]

"... Right."

Lightning practically ground her teeth in disgust the moment she said that, trying to avoid the trap of asking herself too fervently why she'd learned to tolerate Snow at all. She was just upset... and for some reason, he'd chosen a reaction that brought back those irritated feelings especially strong in her. Sis?

Without a doubt though, the smoothness with which she agreed with that... ludicrous series of claims had nothing to do with being a good prisoner or... anything like that. In fact, a savvier person would have known from just that one word, delivered in that kind of tone, that trouble was brewing. Lightning might not have been aware of it, but the last time Snow at least would have seen her use that approach she'd gone and taken on an entire squadron of PSICOM soldiers. And won.

Yet despite how her body felt almost painfully taut with the desire to do something... somehow, she held back. Between her and Snow, there would have definitely been a better chance of fighting their way out, but now she was faced with the choice between trying to sort this bizarre situation out now... or later. Plus, to make a scene now would not only serve to announce themselves as l'Cie, but do so in the middle of crowded room- something Lightning was reconsidering since she'd had time to think on it after her first try. No, it was wiser to wait until she'd worked out the allegiances of everyone involved- prisoners and prison guards alike.

Which meant that for now, as distasteful as the thought might be, she just had to play along. She swallowed her annoyance, merely looking up at the 'nurse' hovering nearby with an impatient glance and gesture. She didn't actually care if their 'story' was bought or not, as long as they were left alone again. That was the only reason she allowed the woman to set down that tray, bearing more of that awful-looking food, on the table near her.

"What is wrong with you?" she asked Snow bluntly, once the woman had said her soothing spiel, smiled, and was once again walking out of general hearing range.

[heroesdontshave]

Looked like Lightning wasn't willing to fake a smile. In fact, he could practically feel the pent up hostility buried under that tone. Light wanted to fight. And if she did, he definitely would go along with her, no doubt about that. Him and Light? Back to back? Heh, it'd be like a two man wrecking team! Place wouldn't know what hit it. That was the approach he normally would have taken himself. Just seemed like a better idea to do it this way. You know, stay on the down low a bit until both he and Light were on the same page about things.

In the end though, Lightning just went along with it and the guard wandered off none the wiser. Mission accomplished! But before he could feel too victorious about it, Light had to go and say that.

“Huh…?” The face he gave her very clearly read as, What did I do? Again, he didn’t actually say it. Come on, give him a break. Snow thought he'd handled that pretty damn well! Especially since that sort of thing wasn't really his style at all. He was all proud and stuff. And it worked so what was the big deal?

[thestormishere]

With a question like that, it was probably too optimistic to expect any sort of rational answer, but regardless, it now proved impossible for Lightning to hold back her half-irritated, half-utterly-baffled expression once they were alone. Why did it have to be so hard to get things through this guy's head sometimes? It didn't make any sense- Snow had been one of the most enthusiastic proponents of moving forward and searching Gran Pulse for answers... searching for a way to protect Cocoon as Serah and Cid Raines had wanted, in spite of their Focus and the path laid out in front of them. Had he forgotten that?

However, what might have been the answer (or at least, part of it) then finally came to her: if something had been done to her that made her slower and easier to contain, was there something else in play that made Snow act... especially idiotic? Maybe it had to do with the food, or more directly, was like the apathy-inducing drugs she'd been given when she'd attacked the guards. In any case...

She lowered her chin again, speaking quietly. "Come on. We wake up here, no memories of being captured, and you find that--" She glanced down significantly. "-- perfectly normal? Don't you remember what we came down here to do?" A pause for breath and to push the tray on the table further away from her, but her momentum in speaking didn't slow- "What's the last thing you do remember?"

[heroesdontshave]

As confusing as this whole conversation had been so far, Snow had figured there was just something Light had been trying to get at that he simply wasn't getting. She wasn't exactly explaining anything in a way he could understand, first off. She just seemed to assume he knew what she was getting all worked up over. But now he was realized something else was going on. It wasn't that he wasn't understanding. He was missing something here. Something big. Lightning pretty much confirmed that in what she'd just said.

"Remember what we came here to do?" he repeated, still obviously confused. His expression, however, had shifted to a frown. "What are you...? We didn't come here to do anything. Don't even know where this place is."

Then there was also the fact that he didn't remember them ever deciding to do something as a "we" in the first place. That he would definitely remember. Yeah, it would have been nice, but he and Light had barely spoken, really. Everything seemed to move so fast after Serah had... and then what happened to all of them. It wasn't long after that he'd decided to stay behind. For her sake. He couldn't possibly stand the thought of just walking off and leaving her there. Anything could have happened to her. He refused to leave her. Ever. Even if it meant he had to dig her out all by himself. Even if the whole army and Eden itself came down after him. The only place he belonged was by her side.

But the others didn't see it that way. The last he had seen of any of them were their backs as they left him back at what used to be a lake. Not to say he was bitter at all about it; he knew they all had to do what they felt they had to. But him and Lightning? He knew they didn't exactly see eye to eye when it came to a lot of things. So the idea of the two of them coming here or going anywhere for something was completely wrong. Not to say he wouldn't do if they had the chance, but he hadn't.

Answering her question and clarifying what he last remembered seemed like deviation of topic, but it actually sounded like a good idea. It's hopefully clear some things up so she could realize he hadn't exactly been caught up on anything she and the others had been up to. It would be good to let Lightning know what he'd been doing since they saw each other last, too. So Snow just shook his head slightly and sighed, rubbing the back of his head in the process.

"Let's see. Well, after we got split up, I got taken in." Actually, that might not have been the best sounding beginning to a story. He waved his hand slightly as if to calm her down from whatever outburst she might have had at that. "Not by PSICOM. The Cavalry. Said they were gonna lend us all a hand and get us outta the Sanctum's hair. We were just on our way to find you guys when... well, ya know." He waved his hand to indicate where they were. She pretty much knew the rest. He looked away from Light, pondering the exact answer to her question. "Last I remember... I was talkin' to Fang about--"

That's right. That's right!

Serah! Lightning didn't know! She couldn't know! Serah wasn't dead. She was fine. She was going to turn back! Never for one moment had he ever doubted any of that, but Lightning... Lightning hadn't believed. No on had. They had assumed the worst and given up on the idea of recovering her. But he had confirmed for sure that everything was going to be alright! He'd wanted to tell Light first thing as soon as he saw her, but... erm. Well with this whole "being captured and thrown in a holding cell" thing, it kinda maybe slipped his mind to mention it. BUT NOW HE REMEMBERED. "Lightning! Listen! I have to tell you...!"

[thestormishere]

"What...?" Lightning froze, completely off-centered by the words coming out of Snow's mouth. Getting split up? The Cavalry? That was far from what she expected, but it wasn't that she didn't know what he was talking about... she just didn't want to accept it as true. What he was describing was a long time ago- before they'd even taken refuge in Palumpolum... before they'd attacked the Palamecia to get back Vanille and Sazh... before Primarch Dysley had shown his true colors and forced them away to the strange Pulsian Ark hidden within Eden and subsequently, through the transgate hidden there to Gran Pulse itself.

At first she let him keep talking, but quickly there came a point at which she'd just had enough. She very nearly swayed in place, and for a moment her vision seemed to lose its color as she stared down towards the floor. "Stop," she said abruptly, just as Snow had suddenly seemed to realize something and blurted out he had something to tell her. "No. No, that's..." She didn't feel right, and the way to relieve that--

Face clearly upset but mostly unreadable, she put her hands on the table and pushed herself up, table clattering and chair nearly upturning in her sudden haste to stand. If Snow had anything redeeming to say, it had better be fast, because she was every bit prepared to walk away instead of hearing more.

[heroesdontshave]

Nothing he said seemed to make her feel any better. If anything, Lightning looked even more upset now than before. She stood up, looking about ready to just storm out. Snow wasn't sure what on the list of stuff he'd mentioned seemed to be getting her all riled up, but he wasn't going to let himself get interrupted again. Not when he had something so important to tell her. She just didn't understand! He was trying to tell her soemthing wonderful!

"Lightning, listen," he insisted after she'd stood. "Serah. She's gonna be alright!" He watched her carefully for her reaction to that. "She can still turn back! Just wait and you'll see."

Thing was, he completely understood how Light must have felt. Snow himself probably would have fallen into despair if he thought for a moment that Serah was gone forever. But he had always known. That was what kept him going: Knowing that she was going to be fine. Knowing that they only had to grant her wish of protecting Cocoon. Knowing they had the strength and the power to do so. Without that hope, he would have had nothing. And that was exactly what Light was going through. No hope and no future. She needed to understand everything wasn't a complete loss. Not by a long shot!