witchesreign | Loss. [Action

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Loss. [Action | Front Gate]

[Not wanting to suck the life out of the quad and not feeling up to training, Snow had found himself a seat on one of the raised planters that held a few small trees and some decorative plants, out past the ID checkpoint in the landscaped area. There he sat, hands on his knees, head bowed, and thought.]

[In his right hand, he held a crystal.]

[As far as he knew... he had lost a sister. And he was amazed how much it hurt.]

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Our world is Cocoon. The world below is Pulse. According to history, or legend, the two worlds have been at war forever.

[He lifts his forearm to display the brand more clearly.]

This brand's been messed up since I got here. I don't know why. But... anyway, a fal'Cie can brand a human, turn it into a l'cie, and give it a Focus. It's basically an order. "Do this or you turn into a Cie'th." A monster. Because of the war, anyone on Cocoon would assume that a Pulse l'cie's Focus is 'destroy Cocoon'.

[Mikuru gulps. While Snow's apparent lack of focus on any particular goal and his comment about the brand being messed up give her hope, she still thinks it's awful that such a nice guy would be put through something like that.]

So did Lightning blame Serah's branding on you...?

[He has to smile. That almost would have been better than the alternative.]

She thought we were making it up. That it was some crazy story we'd come up with so she'd accept our engagement.

[Her brow furrows in confusion.] I can't imagine anyone would make up a story like that.

When I said Lightning didn't like me, that was putting it lightly. But a Pulse l'cie... that was more like a boogeyman, a ghost story, than a real thing. We knew it was possible, but how would a Pulse fal'Cie get onto Cocoon to make one? They hadn't been seen since the old war. It'd be more believable if we claimed Serah had grown a second head.

[Understanding dawns on Mikuru's face, and she nods, giving Snow some space to continue now that he's explained his world's unique points.]

Anyway, the Sanctum discovered the fal'Cie that had branded Serah. They shipped everyone in Bodhum off to Hanging Edge to be killed. Called it the 'Purge', pretended they were relocating people to Pulse. I tried to get Serah back to the fal'Cie, but it stole her away when they were taking it, too... Lightning was part of the GC at the time. She quit, made them Purge her. Then she broke out of their train, all to get to the fal'Cie that branded her sister.

[Mikuru's eyes widen as he describes the 'Purge', Snow's own efforts, and Lightning's moves to rescue Serah. Though the mention of GC confuses her, she doesn't want to derail the story some more.]

We got to the fal'Cie, Serah turned to crystal, Lightning attacked it, and we were all branded too.

[He pauses for questions. He's sure there will be some.]

[Many! Mikuru is so confused.]

Why did Serah turn into crystal? [And is that fatal, she sort of wants to ask, which confuses her further seeing as Serah seems perfectly fine in class.] Did Lightning attack her sister who was crystal? [This is unfortunately how she's understood it.] But she had to have believed you after that, at least, right?

Oh, no! Lightning attacked the fal'Cie. She thought... I guess she thought killing it or even just hurting it enough would bring her sister back. Sorry. Wasn't clear.

[He punches his palm absently, looking down at his hands for a quiet moment.]

L'cie, so the legend goes, turn to crystal when their Focus is complete. Because she asked us to save Cocoon, then changed, I thought her Focus was to save Cocoon. I don't actually know what it really was, though. Probably 'destroy Cocoon', same as ours. It turns out that you can overcome a Focus. We all did that, in the end. I think.

Ohhhhh, okay! [Despite Snow's apology for being unclear, Mikuru still feels stupid for misunderstanding, and takes his contemplation on Focuses to compose herself.]

So what happened with Lightning? She didn't believe in Pulse l'cie and then she became one herself...

We all got dumped on the lake below Hanging Edge. It'd turned to crystal when the fal'Cie died. We found Serah there, in the middle of it. I promised to protect her and save Cocoon... Lightning hit me for that one. A couple times.

[Mikuru chuckles.] Is that when Lightning started to come around and stop hating you, or does that come later?

That took a while. We ended up separated, and Lightning went with Hope, who... blamed me for his mother's death and was planning to kill me. The way I heard it from them later, I think seeing how much he hated me for what happened helped her realize that Serah wasn't my fault.

[She nods as she contemplates Lightning's change of heart...and then realizes something.]

... Do you have anyone else who hates you for something that wasn't your fault?

The thing Hope hated me for... was my fault. Is my fault. Not entirely, but...

[Awkward.] I-I'm sorry to bring it up...

It happened. As much as I want to, I can't change it, and I can't forget it. Shouldn't forget it, either.

[Still nervous about the subject but trying to take the point about not forgetting the past on board, Mikuru nods slowly, before trying to steer the story back to the original subject.]

So... If Lightning realized Serah wasn't your fault, how come she hates you again?

Near as I can tell, she didn't come from the same time I did. I knew that could happen -- some of my other friends are from different times too.

[Mikuru reaches into her pocket to touch the note she received on Christmas. It always stays on her person, as a reminder of who she takes these classes for.]

It's so weird how that happens... [Even though underneath it all, Mikuru is a little jealous: She'd love to have her friends here, even if they were from different times.] I hope she'll come to like you again like she did in your time.

[Oh, wait till he finds out the truth...]

If she doesn't, it won't be because I didn't try.

[That gets a smile out of her.] I didn't think so.

I feel a little bit better, at least, just talking about everything. [He flashes her a grin.] Thanks for listening.

Loss. [Action | Front Gate]

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