OOC ❦ Memory (1)
Cloud woke with a shiver and sat up on the wooden park bench he had claimed for the night, his coat sliding off his shoulders to pile in his lap. That had been a pretty comfortable night, thanks to the blanket he had impulsively decided to take from Temporary Housing last night. With the blanket, the bench was definitely better than sleeping on those awful beds again… and while the ground-slightly muddy though it still was-would have been even better, he was wary of messing up something that didn't actually belong to him.
He yawned and peered up at the sky. Cloudy… he grinned a little at that. The air smelled like rain. Nnnn… he had been planning to explore some more of the islands today. Well, he could do that anyway. It wasn't like a little rain was going to kill him. Cloud rubbed the back of his neck and then got to his feet, stretching and muttering a little to himself. Shaking out his coat a little he put it on, shrugging so it settled into place on his shoulders. It was still a little too chilly to be wandering around without a coat, but spring was definitely on its way.
He should probably take back the blanket first so he wouldn't be carrying it everywhere, and then he could walk to the Bazaar and buy something to eat, or… he stuck his hands into his coat pockets as he was thinking. The fingers of his left hand brushed against something in the pocket, something that wasn't his coin pouch or map. What…? He brushed his fingers against it gingerly a few more times, then grasped it carefully and pulled it out. It turned out to be several thin rings of metal with a faceted rock suspended in the middle of the little round 'cage'… the thing looked like the description he'd seen in the journals of a memory crystal. He turned it a little in his hands, watching what light there was reflect off the facets of the semi-clear stone.
Castor had told him these were a way to get memories back. Koi had written that the 'backlash' from using the crystals was never dangerous. Pollux had used one, and he seemed fine after… even if he apparently had to put up with showers of that weird sparkly glitter-stuff whenever he said or wrote certain words.
Cloud only hesitated for a second before slipping his fingers past the metal rings and touching the crystal at the center.
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For a moment after he touched the crystal, the thought that his remaining eye had been blinded by it had him on the verge of panic. He couldn't see anything! But he didn't have time to dwell on the problem because the noises started right away. Cloud was, at least momentarily, more interested in making sure he heard every last word and sound than worrying about his eyesight. He quickly shoved his alarm and budding panic into the back of his mind, getting them out of the way for now. If he didn't get his eyesight back after this… then there would be time to worry about it. For now, he concentrated on what he could hear. Since this was most likely one of his memories based on what he had heard about the crystals, he wanted to get as much out of the experience as he possibly could.
There was the sound of something wooden opening. "What…?" A woman's voice, older; it sounded familiar. "*****? Is that ***?" For a few seconds the sound of wind rushing through the trees partially obscured what she said.
Cloud could smell something burning just before he spoke. It was an unusual smell; definitely herbal and a touch acrid, or maybe bitter-but almost pleasantly so, at least to Cloud's nose. It was a familiar smell, more familiar then the woman's voice. "Hello." He could hear the slight smile in his own voice.
A brief time with no one talking as a door slid open, the sound of shoes on a solid surface, and then a heavy clunk close by. The pleasantly-bitter herbal smell vanished at some point in all this. "How is your work?" The woman sounded faintly disapproving as she spoke to him. She was clearly making an effort to be polite.
"About the same as always." A few small thumps, and then that same clinking creaking noise he had heard in his dream. "How is ******?" There it was again, the sound of wind rushing through a forest, covering up some of his words. Strange that it still sounded so loud when they were apparently inside a building.
The woman's voice softened just a little, becoming slightly more approving… apparently she could hear what he had just said perfectly. "She hasn't changed either. She was writing up to a few moments ago, and now she is taking a rest." The sound of footsteps continued after a moment, but they sounded softer now. Had he taken off his shoes? That made sense. The woman spoke up again. "You've come to visit the library again today?"
"Yeah."
"Then wait over there." More doors being slid open, more footsteps-just one person's now, the woman's no doubt, getting fainter as she moved away from him-and then the sound of metal on metal. Cloud strained his ears… there were clinking noises, a faint scraping sound, and then a sort of mechanical clunk. A different kind of scraping sound; it almost sounded like stone grinding together this time.
The footsteps started again, and Cloud could hear he was walking with the woman again. The sound of the footsteps changed, becoming hollower-it went on for a few minutes. As they walked he started to smell something new, and the smell became stronger the further they went. Old paper and dust, a peculiar sort of mustiness… well, it was a library after all. It made sense it would smell like paper and dust; but that slightly dank, musty odor puzzled him. "How far have you read?" the woman finally asked.
"I've read pretty much all of the previous writer."
"Then you're ready to start **** ******. It starts at that bookcase." This time he was sure the sound of the wind wasn’t really part of the memory. It was being used intentionally to cover up certain words. How very interesting.
"Thanks for all of your help." His words sounded politely final, as if he expected she was now going to leave him alone to read whatever he was going to read in peace.
"Ah, I almost forgot." Apparently their conversation wasn't quite over. "Let me have them. Your cigarettes."
"I wouldn't smoke in here." His voice had a faint note of surprise in it, as if he was startled she would even think such a thing.
"I'm not taking any chances." She obviously didn't trust him. After a beat of silence when nothing was said, she continued. "What's written here isn't some simple instruction book on how to ward off mushi. I'll thank you to never forget that."
There was a soft patting noise. "Whatever you say."
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And just like that, it was over. He could see again, but after however-long-it-had-been of not being able to see anything even the muted sunlight was almost painfully bright. Cloud blinked several times, his eye watering in protest at the light, and realized he was on his knees in the damp grass. He put a hand to his forehead, feeling the sweat there. The other one fisted itself in his pants leg.
Dammit. What had that been about? There hadn't been enough information to give him any real answers. More importantly, why had he been unable to see? Going by how confident his footsteps had sounded, he didn't think he'd really been blind in the memory… and he had been going to a library, which implied he was going to read something. Besides which he could see now, in the present. So. The blindness must have been somehow related to the crystal itself. Strange that he could reason it out now, but he had been so afraid while it was happening…
After a moment or two more, he managed to pull himself together enough to look for the memory crystal. It had rolled away in the grass a little ways; Cloud got to his feet and picked it up, being careful to only touch the metal rings. Just in case.
"Mushi," he started to say aloud, but stopped when something fell out of his mouth. He caught it almost automatically; it appeared to be a small, round ball of mochi. Baffled, he squeezed it a little. It responded to the pressure, his fingers making dents in its side. It felt cold.
"What is…" another two fell, one after the other, both of them landing in the grass at his feet.
…huh. This must be the backlash for his memory.
[ooc: Senses are sound/smell. His punishment for the memory is that every time he tries to speak, balls of mochi ice cream fall out of his mouth. This will continue for 3 days.
This memory was taken from Chapter 7 of the manga, 'The Sea of Brushstrokes', pages 53, 54, 55, and the top two panels of page 56.
Or if you want to watch the anime instead, it's episode 20 A Sea of Writings, starting at 2:25 and ending at 4:28 (the order of chapters 1-26 was completely mixed around when they made Mushi-shi into an anime, but it doesn't really matter; the storyline is the same either way).
I used my copy of the manga to write this memory, so the words are a little different from either of those sources.]