witchesreign | 001 [Action-Garden Entrance]

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001 [Action-Garden Entrance]

[It had been a long year since Lightning had last been here, walking through the turnstiles to get back into Garden. One year of chasing a monster all over the continent without any backup. One more year with only her thoughts as company, and not so much as a clue to get home for it. Just more gil and a teaching job to look forward to come morning.

Nothing had changed, really. Not even the place looked different as Lightning looked up, eyes narrowing in thought. Would she ever find a way back? Hard to say. But she was going to try, and standing around wasn't going to solve anything. So she stepped forward, never turning her head from what was in front of her.

It would honestly be a wonder if she didn't crash into someone or something, at the pace she was following.]

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[On the way out, thoughtful but cheerful despite that, comes a familiar figure in a familiar coat, on the way out to go punch some monsters that weren't in the Training Center, just for variety.]

[Not paying much attention, he spots only the gist of the uniform and the pink hair, and starts to step aside and around in a wide berth.]

[Soldier instincts are good for several things, and that includes spotting familiar men in familiar coats, even if the thoughtful look is rather odd. They are not so good for handling surprise, however. When had he gotten here?!]

Snow?

Sorry, Instructor. I don't intend to bother you.

[He says that in the most neutral voice he can manage, trying very hard to make that a statement of fact and not at all challenging. He doesn't intend it that way, he's trying so hard to be neutral... not that he expects anything but a frosty reception.]

[He really ought to pay attention more.]

[Still, he's trying to step around and let her pass even now.]

[He can try to step around her, but it won't do him much good. Not when Lightning manages to reach out and grab his sleeve to make him stop. Confused Light is confused and wants answers. Especially about that tone; something's not right here.]

What the hell is that supposed to mean?

[And that tone sounds -- surprised. Not confrontational... well, not punch-his-teeth-in confrontational, like he expects. Snow finally lifts his head up more to look at her --]

[Of all the subtle clues he should have noticed before, the eyes give it away first.]

Lightning?

[Hesitant and cautious and he doesn't even dare to hope...]

[She's never heard Snow sound quite like that. It almost hurts to hear the big old "hero" sound like that, and Lightning tightens her grip on his sleeve before she lets go. She's got his attention, at least.]

Yeah. Who else would I be?

[She's got his attention.]

[And normally he wouldn't do this with her, but -- as soon as she starts to let go, Snow grabs her. And pulls her in for a hard, fierce, almost desperate hug.]

[Sorry, Sis. But he downright needs it.]

[The hug catches Lightning completely off-guard, prompting her to go rather stiff in Snow's arms for a moment before she relaxes a smidge. What the hell is going on around here to make him hug her like this? What's gone wrong that he felt the need to do this? Whose ass does she have to kick?

...funny. She's not making any struggle to get him to let go, despite that chain of thought. Probably because she's missed him a bit over the past year. Hard not to miss the big oaf that's family, really.]

Snow, what happened?

Where have you been?! [He can't even sound chastising, just happy and relieved.] We've been waiting -- we've been looking for you!

Come on!

[Still quite forgetting himself, he releases her from the hug, but catches her hand instead to all but pull her back to the dorms.]

You don't get to make Serah wait a second longer than she has!

On a mission. You weren't here when I left--[And there he goes, tugging her along in the direction of the dorms. Caught off guard again, Lightning does nothing but try to keep up for a few steps before she digs her heels in. But then he mentions Serah and she's getting tugged again.]

Serah's here?

I was in Dr. Odine's lab, then. That's where I was before I came here. [Speaking quickly, rapidfire in time with his footsteps.] Serah's here, Hope's here, Vanille's here, Sazh is here, Cid Raines is here, and I'm gonna go turn out every one of them I can as soon as you're back with Serah!

[And he's gradually getting wilder and happier as he speaks, too.]

[Lightning has to jog to keep up with him after a few minutes, and she just takes it all in. Serah, Hope, Snow, Vanille, Sazh...Raines is here? How much had she missed in the past year? And why had he acted that way back at the entrance?]

You still haven't told me what made you hug me like that, you know. [She shouldn't have to say she wants answers, but she will if she has to.]

[He shakes his head as he leads her to the dorms,]

I'll explain later, Lightning, I promise. It's too crazy and Serah and Hope seeing you is more important right now.

[Not the answer she wanted to hear, but...well, it's understandable. Kind of. If they've been here as long as Snow....she'll just be upping her pace to match his.]

Then slow down. You don't want them seeing me with a busted ankle, do you?

Your ankles are tougher than that. Besides, if that happens, I'll carry you and Hope can heal you.

[He does slow down just a little -- and releases her hand, finally, now that she's caught on to the urgency.]

[She has indeed caught onto the urgency, and despite rolling her eyes at Snow's comment, speeds up to keep pace with him. Like old times, this. She'd missed it more than she'd realized.]

...How have they been doing lately?

Hope, Serah, and Vanille are all cadets here. Sazh and Cid have been teaching with me. No one's brand has advanced, they've all been frozen -- [He glances over his shoulder at him. Hers too? Or did hers... disappear, like Sazh?]

[Well, that's pretty large relief. There's no doubt in her mind that completing a focus wouldn't be easy here.

What is easy is telling what Snow's about to ask, and she shakes her head.]

No brand. It was gone before I even got here. [If only by a few minutes.]

[ Feeling good about being alleviated of your Focus is all well and good when it's unwanted and would be impossible to complete where you are anyway... but that's hardly a comfort when your name is Claire Farron, you're a former lieutenant in PSICOM, and it just so happens that, despite having an inexplicably-silenced Brand, you're still absolutely certain that carrying out your own baneful Focus is a fantastic idea.

... Not that Claire's doing a very good job of listening to Snow and Lightning's conversation at the moment- the instant she catches sight of them both she freezes, apparently mid-stride and doing a pretty good - but uncharacteristic - impression of being completely dumbstruck.

It's doubtful that will last for long, though. Better do something quick, Snow. ]

[...Snow had been looking over his shoulder at Lightning. So something in this case amounts to looking back at where he's going just in time to stop before he bowls Claire over.]

Uh.

[Great job, Snow. Game over. ~~Snow presses "X"~~]

[A bunch of absolutely terrible ideas quickly flash through his head ("Oh hey, don't mind this inexplicably placed mirror that doesn't reflect quite right"), but all he can think of doing is standing between the pair of them in preparation to stop the inevitable fisticuffs, while looking downright morose.]

So, uh, I guess those explanations I promised are coming sooner rather than later.

[Snow's sudden stop forces Lightning to hop back or crash into his shoulder and most likely topple them both over, so when she regains her footing she gives him a look that's a mix of confusion and stern disapproval. She nearly opens her mouth to ask why the hell he stopped with no warning when he'd been all for getting to dorms as quickly as possible, but then she sees something just past him and she peers around his shoulder.

The sight of Claire in front of them is enough to draw Lightning up short, eyes widening in her surprise even as she holds still as a metal rod. It's like looking into a mirror, if not for the PSICom colors and the subtle differences in this other person that Lightning knows she doesn't have. It's enough to make her wonder if she's seeing things, but Snow's reaction nips that in the bud, and she narrows her eyes, never taking them off this person in front of them.]

They'd better.

[ As expected, it's zero to furious in nothing flat- practically baring her teeth, Claire takes a deliberate, single step back, positioning her entire body at an angle that doesn't exactly speak of a willingness to keep things peaceful. In fact it may look awfully familiar, to the man who happened to meet the bad end of it a few weeks previous.

That said, she's too busy staring to do anything, her mind suddenly an absolute mess over this. It's one thing to fend off friendly advances, to simply hear about this hypothetical version of her that's not only on their side, but amiable to the point of being a Pulse l'Cie as well--

She absolutely hates all of the other l'Cie present, so it's nothing for her to just ignore most of what they say and think anyway. But she can't dismiss having the fact of the matter thrown in her face, something that leaves her incensed and confused and her heart jumping into a tempo so fast it threatens to leap out of her chest...! ]

... Oh, were you hoping to explain this by yourself, then?

[ Ability to grow irrationally upset with Snow: still completely intact, though. His version of events is bound to be sub-par to a ridiculous degree, of course.

-- Not that she cares what this... woman thinks, but.... ]

So... [Over his shoulder to Lightning] Time Compression kind of... can... pull different versions of a person. If you check your roster you'll see a couple of students with the same name, they're the same person but... not.

I think what you're seeing is probably a better example of this than any way I could tell you about it.

[He exhales, trying hard not to make it sound like a sigh. Even now he's still not trying to irritate Claire, as futile as THAT is. He looks back to the antagonistic Instructor.]

This is the Claire 'Lightning' Farron I know.

[He's tense, expecting something to go wrong. Claire will probably interpret that as the two of them planning to jump her, but he can't do a thing about her perceptions.]

[Lightning stays quiet through Claire's explosive comment and Snow's explanation, keeping both eyes on the other woman. The way she's standing means she's practically looking for a fight, but if anything, she's probably as freaked out on the inside as Lightning. Seeing your mirror image appear with no warning can't be easy to deal with. It certainly isn't for Lightning, even as she forces herself to deal with this logically.]

And she's the reason you reacted the way you did back at the entrance.

[It's not a question; for Snow to have reacted that way around Lightning, something big must have happened. This is pretty damned big, all things considered. It's enough to make Lightning frown, eyes narrowing as she looks over to her double. What had this woman done to Snow? Had she done anything to the others? If she had...there'd be hell to pay. But a reckless charge would get them nowhere; Lightning needed answers and perhaps...Claire could give them if she was asked.]

Maybe you can explain better than he can. What's your side of this? [Light's tone is nuetral, but, like Snow, her posture is tense. This is sending alarms ringing in her brain and she does not like that.]

Yeah, well, see if I care.

[ Finally her gaze snaps back to Snow as she 'answers' him, looking like she's just on the verge of setting him on fire with her gaze alone- she's heard enough off of him and the rest of Lightning's friends to have a rough picture of things -- mostly what's different, of course, considering how anything that's 'wrong' is obviously going to stand out to her more -- and frankly the implications are disgusting to her.

Does she want to talk to either of these people? No, of course not, but if nothing else she's going to aim to make herself and her standing as clear as possible here. ]

I was a lieutenant in PSICOM. A Sanctum l'Cie. [ And everything that may or may not imply- with her harsh tone, it's probably not hard to figure out, even if her words are still mostly aimed at the man rather than her duplicate. ] This doesn't change anything.

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