[Backdated Log] In Which Sophie Talks to ha- Cloud Who: Sophie Hatter and Cloud Strife When: August 15 Where: The Infirmary/Dorms What: Since Gin Charlie’s not around, Sophie ends up with the job of welcoming newcomer Cloud. Warnings: N/A Open or Closed: Closed Observable: No, until the *, then yes
* * *
Sophie wasn’t really sure what exactly they expected her to do, but she did know she was supposed to explain what was going on to a new comer. This man in this bed, who was passed out sleeping at the moment. Sophie, disgruntled at this task because she was certain she would be blamed, sat at the young man’s bedside and knitted, muttering under her breath.
“I’m supposed to clean things, not explain things...”
“What is there to explain?” Cloud asked lowly, his voice rough with sleep, face turned to see. He blinked up at the young lady beside him tiredly for a moment before pushing himself slowly, gingerly off the pillow and looking around. He... wasn’t in a lab anymore. That was... good. Unless that had all just been another nightmare. A faint, barely-there frown shifted across his face as he looked down at himself to inspect for injuries or signs of - Tampering.
He was wearing scrubs rather than his own clothes. Why was he wearing scrubs rather than his own clothes?
His glowing blue gaze shot immediately back to the auburn-haired young woman, flickering briefly towards the knitting needles in her hands - the source of the clicking that had been partially responsible for waking him. She didn’t seem like a scientist. His mouth thinned just a little, and cautiously he asked, “Who are you?”
BOTHER it. He had blue eyes. Sophie had been able to ignore a good deal about this man while he was sleeping, but now she had to confront something. He was very handsome, which made Sophie a little annoyed on principle.
“My name is Sophie Hatter, and I’m supposed to explain why you’re here.” Sophie set down her knitting decisively and gathered her wits. “Not that I really understand why you’re here to begin with, but I’ll try to explain what’s going on the best that I can.”
Cloud’s brow furrowed slightly deeper. What was going on? Obviously he wasn’t camping out anymore, but he’d been a couple days away from Junon still. How had he changed location so drastically without waking up? He wasn’t exactly a deep sleeper, and all the mako in his system prevented most drugs from working.
“I don’t understand,” he admitted reluctantly. “Where is ‘here’?”
“Here is some place called Pacis Urbs. You’re not in your world anymore. Something called ‘The Machine’ brought you here, to Pacis Urbs, with a lot of other people from different worlds,” Sophie explained tersely. She cleared her throat and tried to be a little nicer.
“But the Scientists say they can send us home...”
Cloud tensed, his back and shoulders going rigid. Scientists?
“The. Lab. It wasn’t a - Dream.” Nightmare. And now he was in some different world. Cloud closed his eyes, pained. He really didn’t have any luck at all, did he? Sighing, Cloud ran a hand through his hair and looked back over at Sophie. “Alright. What do I need to do?”
He had a feeling he wasn’t getting back to Edge by the end of the week like he’d promised. Tifa, Marlene, and Denzel were not going to be happy with him.
Sophie watched the young man tense and felt a little more kindly towards him. Obviously this all came as a huge shock. “I’m afraid it wasn’t.”
Sophie, at least, had some experience with travelling to different worlds with Howl before she’d come here. She was still waiting for the man to appear himself and take her home. That didn’t mean she wasn’t trying to get herself home, but she thought it would be prudent of Howl to make some effort at rescue.
“From what I understand, we have to pay our way home,” Sophie explained. “By doing something around the living quarters, or fighting in their Games.”
“Is my sword here?” Cloud asked. He could fight, but he’d need Tsurugi, or else a Buster Sword to replace it. He’d prefer Tsurugi, though. “My clothes?”
His hand went to his neck, where he’d been wearing his omamori, and - They were gone. But Cloud’s neck wasn’t bare. He smoothed his fingers along the surface of the band, testing, his mood palpably darkening though his actual expression didn’t change much at all. A... collar? Tagged again, just another experiment, right back to Subject C.
Great. For all that his friends pushed him to let go and leave the past behind him - for all that he tried to do that in most aspects - the past seemed dead set on holding on to him.
Sophie nodded. “All of your things should be in your room. They might be kidnappers, but I supposed they draw the line at stealing our things,” Sophie groused as she kept knitting. She didn’t really know what it was. She had only started knitting recently, and her attempt to make a scarf had been disastrous. She thought knitting might be a good way to make magical things, though, since sewing worked and maybe she could put magic into each stitch if she worked it this way.
Sophie watched him examine the collar. “They use that to keep us on the grounds and to control people if they get too violent.” Sophie sniffed. “I’ve only ever seen them knock someone out or take away their powers with them, but I don’t really know how they work.”
She only knew you couldn’t talk one off.
Collared in more ways than one. Yeah, that seemed like his usual kind of luck. Cloud slid off the bed, getting to his feet before turning to Sophie.
“Cloud Strife,” he introduced himself, and gave a short, almost microscopic nod of apology, though the apology itself was plain enough in his air, if still fairly subtle. “Sorry I didn’t say so earlier.”
“Well, I don’t expect people who’ve been kidnapped to jump out of bed and introduce themselves,” Sophie said. “Sophie Hatter, it’s nice to meet you, Cloud Strife.”
What kind of a name was that, anyway? It sounded worse than Howl.
“Are you a wizard?” With a name like that, she thought he might be.
Cloud shook his head.
“Swordsman, primarily,” he answered. “I’m good with materia, but it’s not really a focus.”
Materia was almost more of a necessity than anything, and he had friends who were much better with it. Aeris, for example, had been able to do some absolutely incredible things with even low-level materia. Yuffie and Nanaki were better with materia, too, even if not by much. Or at least they had been, back when they’d been searching for Sephiroth. Magic was one of those skills that improved with practice, and Cloud was still travelling the world, fighting the monsters he met on the roads during delivery runs or - occasionally - got hired to take down (though he used the word ‘hired’ loosely: he only ever charged Neo Shinra). If they weren’t using it as much anymore, then maybe he’d surpassed them now.
“What,” Sophie asked with great interest. “Is materia?” She really didn’t know enough about magic, and she liked to learn what she could! She wanted to impress Howl when he got back to when he decided to show up and help her get home.
Also, if she could learn to defend herself better, she would feel much safer when people started muttering about her being a witch.
“Materia is condensed mako,” Cloud explained. “It’s... sort of a conduit between us and the Planet, which is what us to cast spells.” He paused, frowning thoughtfully for a second. “At least, that’s how it works back home.”
Sophie really had no idea how magic worked in her world--not that specifically. She supposed it came from inside her, since she could get very tired after using a spell, but there were also plants and objects that were inherently magical.
“Everyone’s powers seem to work here,” Sophie offered. “I don’t think you’ll have a problem.”
Cloud nodded. That was good, if he was going to be fighting. He wouldn’t need to retrain as much.
“Do you know where my things are?” He wanted to - needed to - change out of these scrubs, and it didn’t feel right, not having Tsurugi or his omamori close at hand or on him. He also wanted to see what else had been brought to this place with him.
...It was probably a bit too much to hope for Fenrir, though. Cloud cringed faintly at the idea. His poor bike - was it just sitting there at the side of the road now?
Sophie nodded and stood, gathering loose strands of yarn into the bundle of her hands. “I can take you to your room if you feel well enough to walk around. Your things should be in there.”
“Thank you.” Cloud hesitated, then asked, “We won’t have to pass through that... lab again, will we?”
Please, please let the answer be no. His luck couldn’t be that - Alright, no, it could be that bad. Usually it was worse. Still, he could hope. Right?
“No, we’re just going to get in the elevator and go down, then we’ll be on the third floor,” Sophie assured him as she stood and went to open the door. She wasn’t sure what kind of closet room they’d stuck Cloud in or where it existed, but it was above the infirmary. She thought.
Sophie walked up to the elevator and punched the button to call it.
Cloud padded after her on quiet feet, his shoulders losing their almost imperceptible tenseness when he was told he wouldn’t have to go back into the lab. Thank god. Cloud well and truly hated labs.
“...Do you think I’ll be here long, Sophie?” he asked eventually, his voice low.
“I don’t know.” Sophie answered. “I’ve only been here a few months myself, but I think some people have been here a very long time,” Sophie admitted. She’d talked to someone who had been here a few years. She hoped it wouldn’t take her that long, though. She had other plans too.
Sophie stepped into the moving metal box and waited for Cloud to follow. “But, I’ve heard it takes everyone a different amount of time to pay off their debt.” Sophie looked Cloud over. He was handsome, and he could fight. “I shouldn’t think it would take you that long.”
Cloud looked down, then gave a determined nod. People would be waiting for him. He’d get through this and get back to them.
He’ll owe Marlene an apology, though.
Sophie reached over, stopped, then patted Cloud on the arm. “I’m sure you’ll do fine.” She had no idea how he’d do, but she thought he’d be fine.
“Oh, and please don’t be scared of the Drones. They walk around in robes and are in charge of the chores around the campus,” Sophie added as the doors opened onto the third floor. *
“Ah.”
...Drones?
“Alright,” Cloud agreed a little doubtfully, stepping out of the elevator after her. He’d probably understand better once he’d seen what she was talking about, and if they were in charge of household chores, he doubted there was much to be concerned about anyway. He looked around curiously as they passed through what appeared to be a common room. So this was where he’d be staying?
“I’m not quite sure how to explain what they are, but someone said they were like robots.” Sophie didn’t know what robots were, but many other people seemed to. “They moved around and do chores, but they’re not really alive.” Sophie motioned with her hands a little to better help her explained as he looked for Cloud’s names on the plaques.
Yeah, definitely not something to worry about, then, even if they did wind up being weaponized. Robotics didn’t really have the mental or physical flexibility, speed, or power to do much damage to him these days, and a nice, strong Bolt3 usually shut even the big ones down for good anyway, no spare thought needed.
“I see. How many people to a barracks?” Cloud inquired, glancing over the plaques by each door. It looked like each one held only one or two names, but it was possible that this area was reserved for frequent winners in the Games or something.
“I’m not sure. There are several floors, but I don’t think all of them are full..” Sophie frowned and tried to think. “A lot, I suppose. More than two or three hundred certainly.” How many more she didn’t know. People were constantly leaving or moving or arriving.
Cloud glanced at her in surprise. That... was a lot of people. Even accounting for non combatants, like Sophie appeared to be, it certainly seemed like he wouldn’t be left wanting for opponents in the Games at all. Whether or not that was a good thing remained to be seen.
“Ah. Is that... My name?” Cloud stopped by the door, which - Yes, had Cloud Strife written out in clear lettering on the plaque beside it. He hesitated for half a second, then pushed the door open and went inside. Over his shoulder, he asked Sophie, “Living quarters aren’t associated with rank or standing?”
The room, if it was really his, was actually about the same size as his room at home, and rather nice. Plain, but that was fine; he liked plain. Cloud caught sight of the big metal locker against one wall and headed over to it. If Tsurugi was anywhere in here, it was most likely in there.
“Oh! Yes, sorry...” Sophie couldn’t believe she’d almost walked right past Cloud’s door! This just proved her point. This wasn’t her job. Sophie stood outside Cloud’s door, no desire to come in. If she was supposed to clean it, someone would tell her later.
“No, I think most of the rooms are the same. Though they usually have more than one bed in them.” Most people were assigned a roommate.
Cloud made a soft sound of acknowledgement as he opened the locker, the tension he hadn’t noticed before leaving his shoulders as he reached in and pulled out Tsurugi’s main blade, testing the massive sword’s weight to assure himself it was real and untampered-with. Main blade, side blades, back blade, hollow blade - all there. Along with his armor, clothes, omamori, and - Ah. Materia. Grabbing the omamori, a Fire, and a Knights of the Round, the blond returned to the doorway where Sophie was waiting, leaving First Tsurugi resting against the wall in easy reach.
“These are materia,” he explained, holding out the pair of crystalline, jewel-like globes and pulling the omamori over his head with his other hand. He held up the viridian Fire now that he had two hands free, and added, “This one’s a Fire materia, to be exact. This one -” He gestured with the red - “is a summon for Knights of the Round.”
That was a very big sword. Sophie wasn’t nervous. Not much. She’d faced off worse than a sword, but never a sword, and Cloud seemed very nice. Sophie was distracted by trying to decide if she should be nervous or not by Cloud’s offering.
She had the urge to touch them, but she didn’t know what would happen if she did. “And these are magic?”
Cloud gave her a nod.
“Pretty much.”
They didn’t look very magic. “What happens when you summon the Knights of the Round?” That sounded like it would be useful in a Game. Cloud would do just fine if he used a sword that big and could use magic.
“All thirteen of the Knights come to my aid,” Cloud answered. “They’re powerful allies, even if they can’t stay long. Other summons, like Shiva or Ifrit, call demi-gods specializing in one element or another, but the Knights summon was lost for a long time. We don’t know so much about them.”
Sophie looked at the small crystal and wondered how an object so small could do so much. She really didn’t understand enough about magic! “Where do they come from?” Sophie asked. “Is it like the Machine?” Could they reverse the process and send themselves home?
“They’re condensed mako,” Cloud repeated patiently. “Solid pieces of the Lifestream. I don’t think they’re very much like any machine at all.”
Sophie herself wasn’t really sure what a machine really was, much less one that could pull people into different universes. Howl had done his world travelling by magic. Sophie would have to see if Cloud could help her figure out how to make a door do that.
But, for now, she should leave him alone and let him settle in before she started nosing around in his business. “I forgot to say, the cafeteria is down the hall if you get hungry.”
Cloud bowed his briefly in acknowledgement, shifting the materia back into one hand and folding it closed over them.
“Thank you. I can manage from here.”
He wanted to change out of these scrubs, get his normal clothes and his armor back on.
Sophie nodded. “Just...ask if you need anything. The Drones can help, or they can find me.” Sophie wanted him to know it was all right to seek her out if he needed anything. Sophie curtsied. “I hope you return home soon.”
“Thank you,” Cloud replied quietly. He bowed his head a little, briefly. “Sophie.”
“You’re welcome.” Sophie managed, feeling a little flustered that he had bowed at her. She curtsied hurriedly and almost tripped as she stood. With a brisk nod, Sophie walked off down the hall.
Cloud watched her go for a second, then ducked back into his new room, closing the door behind himself. He’d change, then go check things out. Hopefully, he’d be able to learn more about these Games, too.