And the rain is saying "Now you're on your own."

[flash_of_white]

[WHO] Lightning Farron, open to all
[WHERE] Timpani Station; Mezzo Hotel lobby
[ABOUT] Lightning arrives; I'm hoping someone would be willing to notice her in the Mezzo lobby or the street out front and strike up a conversation, friendly or unfriendly.
[WARNINGS] PG language.

---

Comments

[seshiru]

Guy's expression shifted quickly from friendly to troubled. He was sure the woman wouldn't be pleased to hear the answer to her question.

"I'm not really sure where Elegy is, but I don't think we're in a place called Pulse. I'm sorry, but you may not be able to get back to your world. The train you arrived on doesn't take passengers away from here."

It was the truth, but he had a feeling it was one of the worst things he could have said. There had to be an upside he could bring up...

"You're not alone, though. There are a lot of others who come from other worlds, too. Some of us have been looking for ways out. We haven't found anything yet, but we haven't found out that it's impossible."

"By the way, are you sure you don't have a Tone?" Guy was initially surprised. It took him a moment to realize that the woman probably wasn't familiar with Tones. Once he realized his mistake, he held up his own for her examination.

"I'm sorry if I confused you. This is a Tone. It seems like people who get off the train just have them. They're mostly used for communication, but you can also use them to pay for food, a place to stay, and anything else you need."

[flash_of_white]

"I'm sorry, but you may not be able to get back to your own world."

His words echoed in her mind, triggering an avalanche of silent and creative swearing. No. No.

Breathe! she ordered herself. You came back from being a l'Cie. You can come back from here. Serah can take care of herself, and if she can't, Snow will look out for her. They and Sazh will look after Hope until he finds his dad. They'll be okay until I get back, and I will get back.

The boy was waving something at her. One of those Tones. People who got off the train just have them? Well, stranger things had happened. It was hard not to accept. She reached into her bag and was only half-surprised to find a cool, hard shape that matched the one he was holding.

"All right. How much is on these things? And how do you work them?" she asked, glancing between his Tone and her own.

[seshiru]

"All you need to do is give it to the hotel staff or merchants so they can scan it for a second. No one's really sure how much money is on the Tones," Guy admitted. "I'm not even sure they use money."

"You can use them to communicate with others in the town as well. All the tones are networked together, so it's possible to write messages, make recordings, or take videos that anyone with a Tone will be able to see. You might want to take a look at them sometime," he said, smiling. "There may be someone from your world already here."

[flash_of_white]

"Unlimited money?" She didn't trust that; she'd had more than enough of inexplicable benevolence.

"And how would someone else be here? I was the only one messing with that damn..." She frowned, re-considering the strangeness around her. "Do you have fal'Cie here?" If they didn't, then Elegy had something going for it, although she still wasn't going to stay. But if nowhere else had fal'Cie, which might be possible (she hoped it was possible), then maybe some of the others had gotten here somehow -

"You haven't seen a gir-a young woman around, have you? A little shorter than me, same color hair? Or a silver-haired kid, around fourteen?" She'd have to figure out that network and look for them, even if it was ridiculously unlikely.

[seshiru]

"A fal'Cie?" It wasn't anything he'd ever heard of. Perhaps it was a device from her world. "I've never heard of one before... was that what you were messing with when you came here?"

"Even if you were the only one who was using the fal'Cie, it's possible that others could have come here from different times. I've met a couple of friends here from my world who came here from our future."

Guy paused for a minute, racking his memory for whatever he might know about the people the woman had mentioned. He didn't remember seeing them in person, but perhaps over the Tone?

"I haven't seen the girl you mentioned, but I think I saw a video of a silver-haired boy once over the Tones."

[flash_of_white]

"I was messing with a fal'Cie. They're... very powerful creatures, very dangerous. I thought it was what sent me here. How do I find that video, of the boy?" If Hope was here... she wasn't sure what she'd think about that.

Suddenly, she realized something and coughed. "Ah, my name's Lightning Farron." Serah had been scolding her the other day about not introducing herself to people.

[seshiru]

Guy smiled sheepishly. How had he forgotten the introductions? It would have been a great place to start. Well, it was good to get to them.

"I'm Guy. It's nice to meet you, Lightning," he said cheerfully. "Anyway, let's see if we can find the video of the boy." Holding his Tone so that it faced Lightning, he hit a series of buttons, bringing up a list of messages and recordings from different sources.

"I saw the video a few weeks ago, so it should be a little way down this list."

[flash_of_white]

Lightning reached for her own Tone and did her best to ape his motions. It didn't look too difficult to use (at least the technology here wasn't too different from home.)

Suddenly, she froze, spotting a clip of a very familiar boy looking as lost as she'd ever seen him.

"Damn."

[seshiru]

Lightning hadn't been looking at the list long, and she didn't seem like the kind of person who would give up easily. Guy was willing to guess that her sudden curse meant she'd found something she recognized.

"Sounds like you've found it, huh? It's a bit old, but it's the only video of him I can remember seeing. If you need to find him, I'd be happy to help you look for him in the morning. You must be tired after the train."

[flash_of_white]

Lightning blinked, glancing again at her companion. "Thank you, but I'm fine." It was a rather outrageous lie. She'd been short on sleep; much as she hated to admit it, she was in over her head in this city; as glad as she was to see a familiar face, Hope was too young to have been drawn into the last one, never mind this one so soon; and she wasn't sure she could protect him. She was too tired to deal with this right now.

"I can find him in the morning."

[flash_of_white]

Lightning blinked, glancing again at her companion. "Thank you, but I'm fine." It was a rather outrageous lie. She was short on sleep, had been for a week; Hope was too damn young to have to deal with this mess, especially so soon after everything else; and she absolutely hated to admit it, but she was in over her head in this city. She wasn't entirely sure she could protect him. Dammit, she was too tired for this.

"I'll track him down in the morning."

[seshiru]

Well, that was a relief. Guy had been half-worried that Lightning might take off looking for the boy immediately. He didn't doubt that she could have found him, but from what he could tell it looked like she probably needed a rest more than anything right now. The boy might even be staying at the Mezzo, but Guy didn't say it; she probably had enough to worry about right now. It wouldn't be a good idea to give her a false hope to hang onto.

"We should get you inside, then. We're just across the street from the Mezzo right now. You can rent a room with your Tone at the front desk for as long as you need to."

[flash_of_white]

"All right, thank you," Lightning said wearily, turning on one heel and stuffing the Tone back into her bag. In the morning she'd look in there and make sure nothing else had materialized.