DAY 59: CAFETERIA

[touchedgod]

Billy surfaced into wakefulness. Sleep receded like an inky tide, and it didn't say anything to him before it was gone. His dreams had been nothing but the sensation of water, rocking him restlessly in his bottle. There seemed to be an ocean beyond his confines, but he couldn't see it and couldn't reach it. He pawed at the glass, but any progress

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[ultimagi]

Morning came, as morning did, after night's end. The only problem the girl had with it was that she didn't remember falling asleep -- and certainly didn't remember going back into the building, let alone making it all the way back to her room. Had she blacked out after using so much magic, and forced her companion that night to carry her back inside? Or had she simply lost more time? She didn't know. She also seemed to have lost everything she'd acquired during the long journey, from the useful knives to the possibly useless cans from the pantry. Had there been any point to the excursion?

Though she'd managed to bespell both herself and her companion with cure, her body was still sore from the fight. The wound on her leg had diminished from the gouging bloody gash it'd been earlier in the night; magic had pulled skin over the wound, which was discolored from bruising, and the limb beneath still ached. Less of a detriment at least, but it wasn't fully healed. Beyond that, she was still sore, and starving. What little sleep she'd

[ultimagi]

"F-twenty-four." Though she hadn't seemed to need it the night she'd memorized it, at least she didn't have to flounder in this moment to recall it. It gave her focus instead to be confused by his reactions. Why was he smiling so much? Was she supposed to be smiling back? The conversation wasn't exactly cheerful sunshine, from her limited understanding. Was he simply that easily pleased to, how had he put it, 'spend some time together'? And every other turn of phrase out his mouth made little sense to her. Was there honor in roaming dark halls and pilfering kitchen utensils?

Terra would have understood, she thought.

"You're so adamant about helping me." Where her tone lacked the question, inquiry was painted in the shape of her eyes and the curve of her mouth. Why, she asked without speaking, what for?

[girlsandgadgets]

Edgar caught the implied question as he finally took a bite of the gruel before him. The taste had not improved with his mood, though it wasn't enough to wipe the smile from his face. Though the grin remained, his expression took on a somber quality.

"Let's just say it's in my nature. Being that we're all prisoners here, we should be working toward a common goal, so there is no reason not to help you." Another bite- he used the pause. "And besides... as I'm sure Locke told you, we were friends once. I suppose I'm hoping to recoup what has been lost, if only little by little."

[ultimagi]

It was a complicated answer, which she should have expected. Some of it she knew from previous conversations -- it meant he was consistent with that story, at least. She lapsed back into silence, ostensibly to eat. At least now she had something else to compare it to; the girl thought she might prefer cake to this.

Eventually curiosity won out, pulling at similar to the question she'd asked Locke the day before. She didn't look up, and her words were easy to lose for the low murmur.

"... What was she like?"

[girlsandgadgets]

She? Edgar blinked before his mind latched itself onto what she meant by that. It was odd to think of Terra as someone else completely, and even stranger to have a conversation as though she was gone when she sat before his eyes. It had to be even harder on her, to not know who she was- or what she was, rather.

"That's another one of those things I'm sure you'll discover for yourself, eventually," he said with a sigh. "And it's probably best that way."

He turned his eyes to her- seeing her head down struck a nerve in him. "Though I can tell you a few things. When I first met her, she was as you are now, to a degree: lost, unable to remember much of her past. She had been used by the Empire for years, but that wasn't who she was. The Terra I knew was kind, but determined."

[ultimagi]

The details matched Locke's story--a girl with amnesia, a kind demeanor and a strong will, 'used' by an Empire--but that's all it was. Details, etchings to a person, but not nearly enough to construct a personality from. Perhaps they both were withholding things more significant for a reason. To have her grow into the woman they knew, without the guilt of forcing such a path.

If it was the truth.

"Locke mentioned that," she said, glancing up. "The Empire. But he didn't explain it at all."

[girlsandgadgets]

"I suppose whether you know about them or not matters little at this point," Edgar said with a shrug, "seeing how we're prisoners here and as such are dealing with a completely different enemy." His eyes met hers. He reasoned it couldn't make things worse if he explained a little about them. She would have heard it had she remained in their world, anyway.

"The Empire was a nation that ruled the southern continent, in the world we come from." Pulling his pen from his pocket, Edgar took his napkin and drew a crude map for her. He placed an X at the center of the southernmost mass. "At the capital city of Vector, they were building an army to conquer more territories. This army used the power of their Magitek weapons, creations fueled by the power of magic. The power they had wasn't enough to satisfy them, however... They wanted more, not content until they were gods."

[ultimagi]

Matters little. Was that really the case? She couldn't help a frown at that, even as he looked at her. How could he say in one breath that they'd been 'using her' for years in one breath, and in the next say something like that

[girlsandgadgets]

"They used you as a weapon would be more accurate," Edgar said without fanfare. She was aware of her power, and he considered it likely she'd used them in her fight with the birds. It was where her powers came from that he'd have trouble explaining, and was something better suited for her to discover on her own; however, it was also something he wasn't sure could be discovered on her own at Landel's

[ultimagi]

Without thinking, the girl moved her hand to mirror his gesture, fingers alighting to her temple. The beret was tight on her forehead, just as it had been the day before, and the night before that. Was that why her head had ached so fiercely that first night? Why, whenever the opportunity presented itself, she would discard it?

Her fingertips slid under the sweatband, as if she would find some evidence to his claim. Some scarring, some lingering touch of metal -- but of course there was nothing. If she could only recall even one thing--!

Pain marked every feature of her face, like the struggle of digging through a frozen soil without a spade. No matter how hard she concentrated, or how many times she tried pushing through that gray fog of absent memory, all her efforts returned to her was this ache. Suffering, and a loneliness she didn't understand.

"Why?" she asked, her voice quiet. Her eyes were unfocused; only some small part of her was still there, at that table with Edgar.

[girlsandgadgets]

There was a pause before Edgar spoke as he chose his words carefully. Her face had gone from one of flat expression, seemingly unmoved by what he said about a past she couldn't remember, to one of pain and frustration. His brow knitted together.

Already, he could see the soldiers rallying people to escort them to the next shift. He pushed a sigh from him, irritation tinting his own features.

"I'm sure you might find the answer if you search yourself," he said, standing. He collected his tray, the gruel there only half-eaten. "But... I can tell you more tonight, if you wish."