cloud strife shouldn't have all that power. (instrife) wrote in missions, @ 2012-07-13 18:18:00 |
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Entry tags: | ! narrative, cloud strife, npc: sorceress edea |
It's just an empty room, this is our darkest cave.
WHO: Cloud Strife.
WHEN/WHERE: Edea's Advanced Materia classroom, during the final.
WHAT: Cloud tries to hand in his final to the sorceress and gets an unexpectedly rude shock.
RATING: Uhhh PG-13 for...swearing?
Although the love spell over Balamb and the tournament had somewhat disrupted Cloud's life, he felt prepared for finals. There'd been some last-minute cramming for the classes he didn't feel as confident in, but he'd been working hard all semester. He read all the texts, even the ones that were so dense and boring that he'd wake up with his face pressed to the page; practically every moment that he wasn't in class or asleep was spent in the training room, trying to build on his already considerable strength and pick up new techniques. He'd sparred with a wide variety of opponents with many different weapons and styles, and his hard work had clearly paid off when he'd come so close to winning the swordfighting tournament. It wasn't that he was worried about his natural ability, or obsessed with blotting out the rest of the world, either. He knew he had fierce competition on all sides, though, and his one goal in life was to prove that not only was he worthy to be among the elite, but that he could stand out among them. He needed to be taken seriously. He had to, if he wanted to be SOLDIER 1st Class. There was no room for the weak among the best of the best. Still, Edea's final on Advanced Materia was difficult. He thought he'd done well on the practical session -- she'd nodded at him when he was through, which he took as approval -- but the test contained so much theory that he wanted to put his head in his hands more than once. Maybe he'd crammed too much information in his brain. Several other cadets had already gotten up and turned in their papers by the time he felt like he'd adequately answered most of the questions. He sat for a minute or two longer, skimming over his answers, but he didn't expend any more energy trying to improve on them; he'd done his best already, and if it wasn't enough, he'd just have to deal. He wasn't going to second-guess himself until he was the last person sitting in the room. Sighing to himself, he rubbed at his sore eyes before he stood and made his way to the front of the room, test rolled in his hand. The famed sorceress glanced up from the paper in front of her with a gleam of interest in her eyes at his approach, and she reached out to take it from him. The moment their hands brushed, it felt like a bomb had gone off in his skull. A roaring filled his ears, and he vaguely heard himself gasp as he caught the edge of the desk to brace himself. The pain was stabbing, his head throbbing in time to his racing pulse. Someone was saying something to him, touching his shoulder -- and when he looked up, all he could see was the green glint of her eyes, commanding and practically brighter than his own. It was worse than the migraines he'd woken up with recently, worse than the slow Mako poisoning at Mideel; he'd been able to stand that to a point. He could taste metal behind his teeth, and bile rising too strongly in his throat. It was all he could do to shake off Edea's hand and lurch towards the exit, and he didn't hear the rush of air from the mechanized doors opening before he was in the hallway. Black and red swam before his vision. Walking any further seemed impossible, and he doubled over, shoulder crushed against the wall as he heaved to drag air through his nose, one breath at a time. Breathe. Fucking breathe, Cloud. Pressing his shaking hands to his face, he felt the blistering heat of his skin, like he'd been burned from flames licking too close for comfort. He didn't know how long he stayed like that before the sensation began to fade into a dull throbbing. It could have been a few seconds, or ten minutes. But eventually he could see, and it didn't feel like a crushing weight had landed on his chest anymore. Spots swam before his face when he finally straightened up, but he blinked them away and cast a quick glance over his shoulder at the closed classroom door behind him. Whatever the Hyne that was, he knew one thing: he wasn't going to be getting close to Edea again any time soon. He was done with her class, she was leaving for Midgar soon, and break was about to begin. He'd avoid her when the semester was back in session. Whatever it took, he never wanted to feel that again. Pushing away from the wall, he stalked down the hallway back towards his dormitory, ignoring any eyes lingering on him as he walked away. He'd be fine. Whatever Zack said, he didn't want to end up in the infirmary. He was fine. |