(Untitled)

[naiad_burial]

It doesn't look like the bar in Nibelheim. The lights are dim, but the diffused golden glow ebbs against her warm hazel eyes, reflecting from polished mahogany table tops. They are frequently used, wiped down, worn and care for, unlike the others. Lashes half-lidded from sleep and squinting, the woman only imagines how a child might appear, waking

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[naiad_burial]

The way the tea had just come into existence at a word was definitely surprising. Given where she was and all the unknowns therein, however, it was something she would simply need to take in stride and accept for the time being. There would be a time to find some sort of mechanism or explanation later, if one should exist. If anything she vaguely believes she should have ordered something a bit more elaborate for the first time. There is the question of currency thereafter, but for now she could not be bothered by it.

"Darkness and light." She thinks on the two opposites, warm tea cup between her palms. She tries to make a connection or assign a characteristic to how those two entities might be recovered and stolen, how they might be linked to memory. The concepts are as esoteric as they ever were.

"So, you can't shine on your own, because you don't have your light, which you need to defeat darkness?" She asks in progression, just to check her own clarity upon the situation. As peculiar as it seems, it's quite interesting. And rather true.

Lucrecia only requires a brief moment more to piece together her thoughts, giving her room to take a sip from the tea. The flavors and pungency are the same now as they ever were.

"Is your light your memory? Or..." She wouldn't ask how he lost it. Perhaps it was personal. Even her question seemed personal, though it may only be to herself in particular. "Is it a person?"

People were so much easier to steal away.

[dontloselight]

Cloud takes a sip from his own cup of tea. Having visited Milliways often enough, the materialization of food and drink from the bar top no longer surprises him; it's all part of being here in the bar at the end of the universe.

"I can't be who I once was without my light," he begins, placing the cup down before him. "I am not ... whole."

He is a different person now than he was before he'd gotten his light stolen from him. He can't remember anything about how he came to be this person, but it's uncomfortable; it is not him. It is as though he is simply borrowing someone else's body.

"Something from my memories will tell me how to defeat my darkness; then I will know how to defeat him."

It hasn't occurred to Cloud that he is telling this woman - this stranger - something the people he knows have difficulty getting out of him. Somehow, with her genuine interest and her connection to Nibelheim, it makes it easier for him to talk. How long this will last, however, is another matter.

[naiad_burial]

She was really trying very hard to understand and piece together the ideas and concepts he shares with her. She understands that it's quite personal, almost urgent, and altogether uncomfortable-- the state he is in. To some level, she can relate.

"Light comes in many forms, I think. The way it sounds, from what I can follow, light may be either a memory or a person. Or both? If darkness is a he.. Could light be a counterpart that makes you feel whole?" She pauses to mull over the sounds of her words, wondering if her theories were sensible at all. The concepts seem intangible if they aren't people. Like many people she can relate and place from her past.

"I only hope that it can be recognized when you do find it. Your light. I wish I could say... I couldn't imagine what it would be like, being too late."

[dontloselight]

All of her talk of science, her logical breakdown have no clear bearings on him; the way he sees it, the matter is simple enough in its complication: regain his memories, find a weapon within them, defeat his darkness, regain his light.

But he appreciates her attempt to make sense of it, nevertheless. His own understanding of the situation, this never ending battle between his darkness and himself, gets more and more confusing the more he tries to analyze it.

But something she says - ...couldn't imagine what it would be like, being too late - strikes something in his mind.

A brief image that flashes (a man hunched over a gurney in a laboratory) too shortly to mean anything at all makes his entire body going rigid for just a moment.

[naiad_burial]

His thoughtful, introspective quiet, shifts for a moment. Subtle as it was, she almost startles herself, setting her tea cup down.

"What's wrong?" She asks almost automatically before figuring maybe, "Did you just remember something?" The excitement of the prospect was diminished by his apparent reaction to it.

[dontloselight]

"I just - " he starts, his initial shock slowly turning into half-frustrated confusion as he stares at the table.

The image was hardly vivid enough to be memorable. Grasping at it, which is what he wanted to do, would not help. It was too brief; there was too little information.

"Nothing."

He pauses before glancing back at her.

"What is your name?"

It might help to bring the image to light. Maybe.

[naiad_burial]

She blinks, wide eyed and attentive as she leans slightly forward to learn what it could possibly be. The woman can't help but to be a bit crestfallen that it's nothing, after all.

"Oh, I forgot to introduce myself." It was still a courtesy to keep in mind in a place like Milliway's. "My name is Lucrecia. What's yours?"

[dontloselight]

Lucrecia.

He recognizes that name almost immediately, but only because someone he's spoken to recently mentioned - no, asked whether she existed in his world. Unfortunately, it still doesn't serve to help bring any memories to mind.

His expression gives nothing away, however, as he nods. "Lucrecia," he repeats. "I'm Cloud."

[naiad_burial]

Cloud is familiar. In a way she knows its importance, its nuance, by way of the Lifestream's gossips and Gaia's history. The connection with her son. He was, however, still a stranger. At least now he was beginning to be a stranger no more.

"I'm happy to meet you, Cloud." She smiles, almost wistfully. "I hope your light finds its way back to you soon."

[dontloselight]

He nods and expressly says, "Thank you," which is something he often doesn't do even when he means it.

Strange, this woman. He thinks he can understand why Vincent would be so concerned and interested about knowing that someone like her exists in other worlds. That is, if this Lucrecia is the same Lucrecia he briefly mentioned to him during their past conversation.

"Welcome to Milliways," he says. He would go over the rules as well, but he isn't sure she is capable of breaking any of them anyway.

[naiad_burial]

Nodding, Lucrecia can't help but to feel welcome when he says it. It's a very nice feeling in the face of unknowns.

"Thank you," she returns in kind, almost meek but appreciative.

He knows the name, so he might know more. He says he has lost his light, but she's drawn to something in him regardless. It's enough to have her venture and ask, "Is there anything you can tell me about this place?"

[dontloselight]

"It's at the end of the universe," he starts. "The universe resets itself periodically. Some patrons seem to enjoy watching it explode."

He gestures vaguely towards the large Observation Window where that specific scene takes place.

Then he continues to speak. He isn't much for talking unless it is necessary, or he has an answer to provide. This is one of those times, it seems. Plus, Lucrecia doesn't make it difficult for him to talk.

"There are three rules -" one of which he broke, unknowingly of course, upon his arrival here, " - no sex, no outside business and no ... violence."

[naiad_burial]

She nods now and then, pauses when there is something she does not quite understand, or when she's confused. Really, it's all very far past her reach, but she's there and she's trying.

She thought the dark picture of space upon the wall had only been an elaborate painting or photograph.

"What happens to the people in the universe when it explodes? If they aren't here?" It's an unsettling thought. If it happens periodically, especially.

"What happens if the rules are broken? The conversation we just had... that doesn't count as outside business, does it?" She would hate if she has just broken it on account of her concern. Despite all her sudden worries, however, she manages to quiet long enough for Cloud to help her.

[dontloselight]

He shakes his head. "We didn't break any rules," he says calmly, with an unsaid 'don't worry.' "They mean: if you have a grudge against someone, you can't take that business in here."

Well, you aren't supposed to, but that rule has never bothered Cloud all that much. If he ever met with his Darkness in the bar, no rule was going to stop him from doing what he had to.

"If you break a rule, Security here sends you to the cells for a period of time."

[naiad_burial]

"I see..." Lucrecia trails off thoughtfully for a few moments in time. "The rules seem typical enough for a bar, I suppose."

The note of imprisonment is another tangent thats been brought about, but she's not quite sure which thread to follow. On the one hand, the bar was like a form of imprisonment in and of itself. On the other, there were still other forms of it? It's a bit much to go into, for the moment, though she does make a note of it for curiosity's sake.

"Is there anything else you think I should know for now, Cloud?"

[dontloselight]

For a bar, they are indeed typical. Not that Cloud seems to have too much other experience for comparison purposes, but they're general rules, more or less easy for most people to stick to.

He pauses, thinking of other vital pieces of information, then nods slowly.

"Can you see the door you came through?"